Home Insurance Guide

We all love a bargain, but ensuring that you have the correct home insurance is crucial, otherwise you could end up forking out unnecessary money at claim time. The amount of cover people choose is often misunderstood. People under insure for two reasons: to reduce the cost of their premium or because they're unaware of the value of their home and its contents. Our guide will show you how to get the best deal for your property without missing out any of the crucial details

Insure your home for the rebuild cost

It is important to remember that you only need to insure your property for the amount it would cost to rebuild; not its market value. You can find a guide to your property’s rebuild cost by taking a look at the survey or valuation report which was undertaken when you got your mortgage. Alternatively, you can visit the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland website here and use the house rebuilding calculator to estimate the cost of rebuilding your property.

The rebuilding costs should consider current building regulations which are constantly changing. For example, a poorly built home from 1990 which is destroyed would need to be rebuilt with the regulations in place at the time of rebuilding.

The amount that your home is insured for should be calculated on a ‘total loss’ scenario. This means that you should insure your home for an amount that would cover for the house rebuild along with costs associated with demolishing, site clearance, footpaths, fencing and parking.

The reinstatement value of your home should also cover professional fees for surveyors, architects and engineers.

You may want to increase the sum insured if your kitchen is of a very high standard or if there are any other enhanced finishes that you would not normally see in a typical 3 bed semi.

For more historic or bespoke houses, you should rely on the expertise of a chartered surveyor.

It is important to review the rebuild cost of your home each year as the cost to build and the materials involved are very often impacted by inflation.

Shop around

It is important to shop around when searching for the right home insurance policy. At Chill, we do this work for you; comparing Ireland’s leading insurance companies to help find the right policy for you. When looking at different policies remember to note:

• What is covered
• Any exclusions that apply
• What the standard excess is

Increase your voluntary excess

Policy excess is the amount you will have to contribute towards any claim you make on your policy. Increasing the voluntary excess on your policy can be a way to decrease your premium. However, it is important to remember that you are increasing the amount you will have to pay in the event of a claim.

Don’t overestimate the value of your contents

Avoid overestimating the value of the contents in your home. This can increase your premium and you will only be compensated for the replacement value of your possessions in the event of a claim.

Alarms

Apart from being an essential safety feature in your home, functioning fire alarms can also reduce your home insurance premium. Similarly, installing a burglar alarm in your home and being a member of a neighbourhood watch group can both reduce your premium.

Consider insuring gadgets separately to contents

Consider insuring your gadgets with gadget insurance (and not under your contents cover), this may work out as a cheaper way of protecting them against any accidents. It also means that your NCB will not be affected if you have to make a claim on any of your gadgets.

VALUABLE ITEMS YOUR HOME INSURANCE SHOULD COVER

When you think of home insurance, you may automatically assume that you are protecting the physical structure of your home. However, it is important to remember there are many valuable items inside your home that also need protection.

TVs

With the increases in technology TVs are not only increasing in shapes and sizes but they are also increasing in cost. Not only is the initial cost expensive, but with the variety of TVs on the market it can make repair costs high too. If you have an expensive TV, we recommend that you insure it under your home contents policy, to ensure that in the unfortunate event of an accident, you will not be left out of pocket, paying massive repair costs.

Laptops

Similarly to TVs, there are constantly new and improved versions of laptops being released annually. However, laptops have a higher chance of being damaged or broken and may be beyond repair if they are out of action due to certain viruses. What’s more is that they are easy items for burglars to steal. But, if you were to have your laptop added to your home contents policy the thought of it being damaged or stolen would no longer be weighing you down.

Washing Machine

Washing machines tend to have a long lifespan when it comes to home appliances; however that doesn’t mean they are indestructible. Furthermore, in recent times, we rely on them a lot more than we would like to admit. If your washing machine was to break, you would not only find yourself out of pocket, but you would also be forced to spend time hand washing your clothes. To ensure you are protected against your washing machine being out of service we suggest you consider adding it to your home contents policy.

Fridge

A fridge is also a necessity when it comes to home appliances. With the vast amount of styles, functions and sizes they too can be quite expensive. But what would happen if your fridge was to break? How would you keep your food from spoiling? If you have it covered under your home contents policy you wouldn’t need to worry about these types of questions.

For more information on how to look after your home appliances, you can check out our blog on home appliance maintenance.

At Chill it’s our mission to find you the right policy, giving you peace of mind that your home is protected. Get a quote on this page or call us on 01 4003400.