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Writer's pictureDavid Kieran

Home Insurance & What You Need To Know!

You are not legally obliged to take out home insurance but if you have a mortgage, your lender can insist that you have buildings insurance so that you can afford to rebuild your home if it is destroyed.

Home insurance is usually sold as a single policy that includes:

Buildings insurance which covers you for damage to buildings Contents insurance which covers you for loss of or damage to the contents of your home All-risks cover which covers you for loss or damage to valuables (even when outside your home) Liability insurance which covers you for injury to other people in or around your home.

It is very important that you insure your home and contents for the correct amount, in case you later have to make an insurance claim.

In this section you will also find information on:

There can be considerable differences between policies in terms of what they exclude and the extras they include. When you buy insurance, it is important to remember that the policy offering the lowest premium is not always the best. It is essential to read the policy details to discover what’s covered before you sign up.

Consider whether you can get better value by combining buildings and contents cover into one policy. You do not have to take out both buildings and contents insurance from the same provider and it is worthwhile to shop around.

Even if you don’t have a mortgage and own your home outright, it is wise to have home insurance so you can repair or replace buildings, contents and valuables if there is a burglary, fire or other damage.

When you buy a home, you usually need to get two types of insurance:

You may be offered other types of insurance as well, but these are optional.


Buildings insurance

Buildings insurance covers anything you cannot take away with you if you move home. It usually includes:

  • The structure of your home such as the roof, walls, windows, ceilings and doors

  • Permanent fittings such as tiled or hardwood floors, bathroom fittings and fitted kitchens

  • Garages or outbuildings such as a garden shed or a farm building

  • Garden walls, gates and fences

If your home is destroyed, your buildings insurance will usually pay for the cost of having to move out or rent another home.

You should insure your home for the amount it would cost to rebuild it. This is different to the market value of your home, which is the amount you would get if you sold it. You can get details of current rebuilding costs from the Society of Chartered Surveyors.

It is important to make sure that you do not insure your home for too much or too little. If your home is insured for too little, your policy might not pay out enough for the full cost of repairing or rebuilding it if is damaged or destroyed. If it is insured for too much, your premium will be higher than necessary and you will not get any extra benefit if you have to claim, as you are only covered for the actual cost of rebuilding or replacing contents. If you live in an apartment and pay management fees, buildings insurance is usually covered within the fees. However, you should still think about taking out contents insurance.


Contents insurance

This covers the moveable objects in your home, including some flooring. It can be taken out as a separate policy from buildings insurance or combined with it in a single home insurance policy. If you do not own your home, for example if you are renting, you should still think about insuring the contents of your home.

You should insure your contents for the amount it would cost you to replace them if they were stolen or damaged. It is worth taking the time to calculate these costs so that you insure your contents for the correct amount. This is important because your policy may have an ‘average clause’. Download our home insurance contents checklist to help you estimate the value of the contents of your home.

Check whether the contents of your garage or shed are covered under your policy and include them if they are covered.  Make sure to also include the cost of replacing carpets and curtains. There is usually a limit on the value you can claim for any individual item. So you may need to list certain valuable items, such as jewellery or antiques separately on your contents policy.

All-risks cover

This is an optional extra under most home insurance policies and protects you against loss or theft of, or accidental damage to, personal valuables such as jewellery both inside and outside the home. It will also usually cover items taken abroad for up to 60 days. You may have to pay extra for all-risks cover, depending on your insurer. If you make a claim, your insurer may choose to either:

  • Give you the cash value of the item or

  • Pay to repair or replace it.

There are two types of all-risks cover:

  • You can choose an overall value for ‘unspecified items’ without having to list each one. For example, you could ask for €5,000 unspecified items cover. Most policies have an upper limit on the value you can insure each unspecified item for – this is the maximum amount you can claim for any one unspecified item. For example, a single item limit of €1,000 will only pay that amount for any article stolen or damaged, regardless of its value.

  • If you have items worth more than your insurer’s single item limit, you should think about listing the items you want covered and their value.


Liability insurance

Most home insurance policies include liability cover up to certain limits. This means that your policy would cover costs, expenses or fees that you could be legally liable to pay in certain instances. For example:

  • Someone visiting your home, or an employee (such as a tradesman or childminder) has an accident, gets ill, is injured or dies, and it was proven that you were at fault. Some policies also include damages that you are liable for but that happen outside your home. For example, you could be covered for damages if you accidentally injure someone with a golf ball

  • Accidental damage to someone else’s belongings that happens because of something you do or fail to do

You should always check that someone working on your home has their own public liability insurance.  If they damage your home, it might not be covered by your own insurance. Always check your own policy before you make any personal pay-outs for repairs, replacements or compensation. You may be entitled to make a claim, instead of having to pay yourself.


Costs and discounts

The amount you pay for your home insurance depends on three main factors:

  • The amount you insure your home for and whether you also insure your contents. The greater the insured value of your buildings and contents, the higher your premium will be

  • The location of your home. Insurers may charge more for homes in areas where there is a high rate of burglary or areas prone to flooding. City home owners usually pay more than rural home owners because there are more burglary claims in urban areas. However, if you have security features, you may get a discount

  • The type of cover and discounts you get. Insurers offer various discounts, which can reduce your premium by a certain amount

Remember that if you extend or improve your home, you will usually need to increase the buildings cover on your policy.


What discounts can you get?

Depending on the provider, you may get a discount if:

  • You have made no previous claims or have made no claims in the past three years

  • There is somebody over 50 living in the house

  • The residents of the house are non-smokers

  • A resident is usually in the house during the day

  • The house has an alarm (you may get an extra discount if it is monitored)

  • You have a smoke detector installed

  • You have security locks fitted on doors and windows

  • You have another insurance policy with the same company

  • Your house is in a neighbourhood watch area

  • The person applying is over 40, or in some cases over 50

  • The house is more than 10 years old

Compare insurance quotes using our latest home insurance survey. You can also use our home insurance shopping around checklist to help you make note of costs, benefits and discounts when getting quotes.


Issues to consider

Some tips on what you should be aware of:

Restrictions and exclusions

These are events or situations that are not covered by your insurance policy. While standard exclusions are contained in every policy, specific exclusions and restrictions will vary across insurers – so check with your provider before you sign up.

The excess

The excess is the amount that you will have to pay yourself for any claim before your insurer pays the balance.  Your insurer will reduce any claim settlement by the amount of the excess stated on your policy. You cannot claim for losses that are less than the excess.

The amount of the excess can depend on the insurer, but normally it is between €100 and €500 for standard claims on a home insurance policy. The excess for subsidence claims is usually higher. You can often get a discount on your premium if you agree to a higher excess.

Indexation

Many insurance companies automatically increase the amount of your buildings and contents cover when they renew your policy each year. This is called indexation. It helps you to avoid being under-insured as it increases the amount of your cover in line with inflation. However, you should also regularly check the amount of cover you have to make sure you are not insured for too much or too little. In general, people tend to be over-insured for buildings insurance and under-insured for contents insurance.


What to do if you can’t get home insurance

It would be very unusual not be to able to get buildings insurance, unless the house was in an area that was liable to flooding. To insure your home, shop around by ringing insurance companies and brokers and visiting online broker sites to find the best deal for you.



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