House insurance - are you paying too much????

Kashkai

Just a note on how I saved €200 on my house insurance yesterday, partly through me being a prat in the past and partly cause I got talking to one of the most helpful insurance agents I ever was lucky enough to talk to.

Anyways, I got my renewal from 123.ie (€700) and it had gone up by the above amount (I've never, ever, made a claim so that wasn't the reason). Now I had heard that insurance prices were rising but this was ridiculous so I rang round, i.e. the AA, FBD, Allianz etc and was quoted between €640 - €880. I then rang Zurich and got talking to a guy who went through the details etc with me. When I got to the part where he asked how much I wanted to insure the house and contents for, I told him €480,000 for the house (rebuilding cost) and €128,000 for the contents. He then said "are you sure you want to insure the contents for that amount" which made me stop and think. I had been insuring the contents at that sum for years as it was part of a package I was offered several years ago i.e. insure the buildings for x amount and insure the contents for a % of that sum to give me a "better deal". He then said that most people would insure the contents for between €30,000 and €70,000 at the very most. I said that we had an expensive kitchen installed a couple of years ago but he replied that this would be covered under the building insurance and that the rule of thumb was that contents were defined as what you'd take with you if you moved house. That made the whole picture very clear for me and I also felt like a complete prat for never putting enough thought into this and lashing out hundreds of euro in over insuring my contents over the years.

He advised that I insure the contents for €70,000 at the most but that I'd probably still be over insuring myself. The quote then came in at €500 with also the lowest excess, i.e. bit I'd pay myself in the event of a claim, of €125 (the other companies had been including excesses of up to €500).

Finally he advised that in future I go round the house and do a rough tally of what would need to be replaced in the event of a fire for instance, i.e. tvs, pcs, furniture etc and that I'd be surprised at how little it would cost compared to what I thought it might cost. It appears that contents insurance is actually a lot more expensive than insuring the buildings when taken euro for euro.

Anyways, thats my few cents worth. Hope it saves a few people some money when re-appraising what they think their possessions are valued at. (and don't forget to revise downwards the rebuilding cost of your house as property prices and thus rebuilding costs have gone south).

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

Lizzykins

480k sounds like a lot for rebuilding costs. My house is 1350 square feet and at a rebuilding cost of €200 per square foot the rebuilding costs are about 270k. I only got my renewal notice for my home insurance and it was €350 from Hibernian. I think my contents are insured for about 30k.

AntiRip

Jesus, 128k for contents. I built a 2000 sq feet house for e120,000. My contents are insured for e35k and my insurance was e221 from 123.ie. Of course it depends what county you're in also. I don't know your circumstances but e480k building costs do sound rather high too.

Kashkai

My house is just shy of 3,000 sq ft and I calculated building costs at €150 per sq. ft fort the Kildare/Dublin area (which is probably still a bit high but better than underestimating it) and so that gives me about €450,000 rebuilding plus the cost of the garage and shed.

Yeah I'd hold my hands up that at €120k for contents, I was an eejit but like I said, a couple of years ago I was offered a "deal" to insure the contents at a percentage of the building costs and I stuck with this since this year's renewal.

homer911

I see whay your handle is "Prosperous Dave" - 3,000 sq ft is not a house, its a mansion!

Kashkai

No I live in Prosperous, Co. Kildare which is the most inappropriately named village in Ireland as its a kip.

My house might be big but it belongs to the bank and I've just got temporary use of it for as long as I can pay the mortgage (which is by no means assured these days!). Plus I have a wife and 4, soon to be 5 kids that take up the space.

halkar

My house insurance company increased my insurance by 30% this year :eek:
Called them to check why was the increase, they said because of increase in house building cost which was noted as 450k. I found this most stupid due house prices have been falling not increasing. Told them I would be happy to hand over my house keys to them if they give me 350k

I cancelled it, went online, checked with my car insurance company got the insurance for 60% less :cool:

Louis Lane 6

The Society of Chartered Surveyors have a handy rebuilding cost guide on their website

http://www.scs.ie/digital_publications/get_lob?id=22&field=publication

BarryM

AntiRip wrote: »

Of course it depends what county you're in also.

That sounds like a good deal, when was it? I started with 123 a couple of years ago, had one claim for €500+ but the premium has been increasing. I got €100 off last year just by ringing and complaining. My original €295 is now €451 in the latest 'offer' from 123.

What exactly does the location mean? Why? I tried to get a quote on Hibernian and couldn't 'cos I couldn't get the site to accept my address??

Bye, Barry

BarryM

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

No I live in Prosperous, Co. Kildare which is the most inappropriately named village in Ireland as its a kip.

It had the best butcher I ever used when I lived at Millicent Cross.....:) It wasn't the most beautiful place but I suppose 'development' has filled it with 'same as next door' houses; with expensive insurance!

Bye, Barry

CleoD

BarryM wrote: »

What exactly does the location mean? Why? I tried to get a quote on Hibernian and couldn't 'cos I couldn't get the site to accept my address??

Bye, Barry

Certain area's are more prone to flooding, subsidence etc therefore will have either higher rates from insurers, a higher excess or they could refuse to insure them at all. e.g there are certain area's in Cork that insurers are refusing to insure for subsidence due to a high increase in claims there for that reason

Hussard

Is there not a body which means you have to be able to get insurance cover, even if you are on a flood plain. It may be more expensive but if you cannot insure your house why would you ever buy it or how would you ever sell it?

oldyouth

Hussard wrote: »

Is there not a body which means you have to be able to get insurance cover, even if you are on a flood plain. It may be more expensive but if you cannot insure your house why would you ever buy it or how would you ever sell it?

The Insurance Federation of Ireland has a 'declined cases' committee which will facilitate the placement of difficult cases where insurance is compulsory. Unfortunately, in Ireland, the only such cover is motor insurance