Another 2.8 million housing units are estimated to require coverage by 2025. This number will increase at a rate of 200,000 units every year, according to an insurance expert.

Director of property and accidents insurance at Al-Tawuniya insurance company, Mutlaq Abdullah Al-Qahtani, said the house insurance had become a necessity. He said modern household equipment could be vulnerable to fires and explosions, and also larceny.

There are about 30,000 fire cases annually in the Kingdom, of which about 30 percent are domestic, Al-Eqtisadiah daily quoted Al-Qahtani as saying. Last year 9,292 houses caught fire in the Kingdom, he added.

House insurance should not only cover fire but also theft and natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.