Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Home insurance

  • 05-02-2004 4:22pm
    #1
    daveg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,683 ✭✭✭


    I have 2 questions with reagards to home insurance if anyone can help. My first question is that we have had our house valued recently. The house was valued at 300,000 Euro. However the cost to rebuild the house is signifcantly lower (approx 170,000). Therefore which value should we ensure the house for? Any tips on this issues would be much appriciated.

    Question number 2 is we are currently insured with AIB. The house is insured for approx 170,000 euro with unlimited contents insurance. We currently pay 70 Euro per month. Is this a good deal? Does anyone have any other insurers we should try?

    Thanks in advance.


Comments

  • #2
    Borzoi
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,876 ✭✭✭Borzoi


    As Victor will probably point out, your house insurance covers the rebuild cost of the property including basics like toilets, sinks. Hence the differnece between the insurance valuation and the overall house valuation.

    Given that house prices are still going up, my preference would be to overinsure by 10% or so, just in case your place goes up in smoke just before renewal time next year.

    Unlimited contents? I'm not familiar with, it being more common to have a fixed content limit, or contents expressed as a proportion of the overall rebuild. If you do decide to change iinsurer that will be more common, in which case you really need to total the value of your stuff and don't forget things like carpets, curtains, kitchen units, that your 100CDs is worth €1500 etc


  • #3
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,451 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Originally posted by daveg
    The house was valued at 300,000 Euro.
    This is the value that you would hope to achieve if selling a proprety if selling.
    Originally posted by daveg
    However the cost to rebuild the house is signifcantly lower (approx 170,000).
    Cross check the value with the SCS guide (link below, note exclusions). This is the value you would need to pay a builder to restore the house in the event of a total loss, e.g. a substantial fire that resulted in major structural as opposed to just decorative damage. The difference of value between the two is the value if you had a clear site.

    Sometimes even if your walls are left standing it would actually be cheaper to knock the entire house than try to hack off and replace all the plaster (smoke tends to penetrate plaster to a depth) and re-plaster and then try to work within the confines of the old structure.

    When declaring a value for a structure, you need to be aware of what rules the insurance company uses, does it include consultants fees, VAT, demolition, etc. Other funnies would be upgrading the building to comply with current Building Regulations, new for old, inflation over period of policy etc. - all these are down to the individual policy.

    With a semi-D or a terraced house you should include the full cost of the party wall, but you do not need to insure your neighbour.
    Originally posted by daveg
    Therefore which value should we ensure the house for? Any tips on this issues would be much appriciated.
    You need to insure for the reconstruction value. Do not skimp on this as the “average clause” in insurance policies insist on a reasonable valuation be placed on a property. If you don’t, they will only pay for a much reduced amount and you will have to pay a substantial amount yourself, in case of an “event”. The value should be increased each year in line with construction inflation (quite different from consumer inflation, it’s available from www.cso.ie)and completely reviewed every five years or so.
    Originally posted by daveg
    Question number 2 is we are currently insured with AIB. The house is insured for approx 170,000 euro with unlimited contents insurance. We currently pay 70 Euro per month. Is this a good deal? Does anyone have any other insurers we should try?
    The insurance actually seems to be quite good value, does it include public liability? Comprehensive risks? Having unlimited contents cover seems unusal - I would read the small print and check if you have to declare items over a certain value or any other conditions to this.

    http://www.scs.ie/publication/hri.asp
    http://www.scs.ie/publication/hritoc.asp

    Further information http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?postid=790497#post790497


Advertisement