Home insurance

Sunrise_Sunset

Hi,
I'm in my first year of house&contents insurance. I am just wondering when this year is up, should I get a reduction for no claims? Does it work similar to car insurance in that manner; a no claims bonus?
Thanks.

Geuze

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

Hi,
I'm in my first year of house&contents insurance. I am just wondering when this year is up, should I get a reduction for no claims? Does it work similar to car insurance in that manner; a no claims bonus?
Thanks.

Not to the same degree, no.

I'm not even sure if there is a NCD.

coylemj

You don't build up a no-claims bonus like with motor insurance but if you've had a recent claim, nobody else will quote you at renewal time.

Sunrise_Sunset

Thanks for the replies. I had just read an article where people were complaining (and rightly so) that their insurance was increasing every year. But I had been thinking that I could build up a no claims discount of some sort, and that it would decrease year on year, for a few years anyway. But I guess that's not the case.

Eggs For Dinner

A lot of insurers give discounts depending on the number of years you have held a policy claim free. It will be calculated automatically if you answer the appropriate questions if getting a quote online. Most insurers will offer a quote if you have had a previous quote. Usually something along the lines of "no more than X number of claims in the last 3 years" or "claims costing no more than €x in the last 5 years"

Sunrise_Sunset

We have 2 bedrooms and then our attic is converted which we use as a 3rd bedroom.
When getting a quote and they ask how many bedrooms, do I still input this as 2 bedrooms?
I'm getting some quotes online, and some insurers are asking how many bedrooms.

colm_c

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

We have 2 bedrooms and then our attic is converted which we use as a 3rd bedroom.
When getting a quote and they ask how many bedrooms, do I still input this as 2 bedrooms?
I'm getting some quotes online, and some insurers are asking how many bedrooms.

Has it been converted and passed all regs?

If it has passed all regs then yes, it's 3 bedrooms.

If it hasn't passed, then it should not be used as a bedroom or insured as one.

If anything ever happened, and you incorrectly insured/used the room, there could be major problems.

coylemj

OP, there is very little reason to stay with the same company year after year for house insurance. I move most years so effectively I am a 'new' customer each time and I'm aways able to find a quote that's less then my renewal - which is why I move. Even when I already have a motor policy with the same company and they're claiming to give me a 'loyalty' discount at renewal time, it's a load of BS and I still get cheaper elsewhere.

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

I had just read an article where people were complaining (and rightly so) that their insurance was increasing every year.

Those are probably people who pay the renewal without shopping around, their laziness allows insurance companies to provide a discount for new customers.

With motor insurance, they can sweeten the policy for customers with a long history of no claims by throwing goodies at them like free comprehensive cover when driving other cars or lifetime no-claims protection. So there can be a reason to pay slightly more to stay put but as I see it, that never applies with house insurance. Because the product is the same, regardless of who is providing the cover or how long you've been with them.

Consumer journalists like Charlie Weston (Indo) and Conor Pope (IT) are forever telling people to shop around. In the case of house insurance, do it every year and move for any reduction, there is zero reward for loyalty.

Eggs For Dinner

There is a wealth of difference in the cover provided by different insurers when it comes to house insurance, especially limits, excesses, conditions and exclusions

coylemj

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

There is a wealth of difference in the cover provided by different insurers when it comes to house insurance, especially limits, excesses, conditions and exclusions

For a given home which is used exclusively as a private residence (no business conducted from or in the house) and with the same valuation and excess, what are the differences in the policies on offer?

Your post implies that I shouldn't pick a house policy based on price alone if I get quotes from different companies using the same metrics. Please tell me why not.

Eggs For Dinner

coylemj wrote: »

For a given home which is used exclusively as a private residence (no business conducted from or in the house) and with the same valuation and excess, what are the differences in the policies on offer?

Your post implies that I shouldn't pick a house policy based on price alone if I get quotes from different companies using the same metrics. Please tell me why not.

You should never pick any insurance policy on price alone. The devil is in the detail.

I'm not going to do an analysis of every product, but I'll give one example. All insurers offer a discount for declaring an alarm to a specific standard. However, if you suffer a burglary and the alarm has not been armed, they will treat you differently. Liberty will decline your claim, while Zurich just increase the excess

There are many such differences, not all as minute as this example

Ronin247

If you have car insurance with the same company, some of them do a multiple policy discount. There are extras thrown in as well.

For example. I have my car with Aviva and get something like 10% off because I have the house with them already. Because I have multiple policies I qualify for free travel insurance thrown in.

They also offer cheap driving lessons for your teenagers if you have a policy but not sure of the exact details.

I think most companies would do multiple policy discounts.

coylemj

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

I'm not going to do an analysis of every product, but I'll give one example. All insurers offer a discount for declaring an alarm to a specific standard. However, if you suffer a burglary and the alarm has not been armed, they will treat you differently. Liberty will decline your claim, while Zurich just increase the excess

The point you're making is to read the terms and conditions and the policy document. Which I do before I move cover. And unless I see something that would be of concern and make me avoid that policy, I buy on price.

Sunrise_Sunset

I went online and got quotes from as many insurance companies as I could, using the same excess and same cover details. The difference in price between the highest and lowest quotes was 243 euros. The lowest quote is 157 euros cheaper than I'm paying right now, but that is taking into account that I when completing the online forms I input that I had 1 year of no claims history as that's what I will have (hopefully!) when my policy is up for renewal soon.
The company I am with now is 123.ie and I have my car insurance with them too, they are giving me a loyalty discount for that, but it's still not enough compared to the new quotes I got.
Going back to what a previous poster said about the attic. What do people do in these situations when getting quotes? There are many, many people using attic conversions as bedrooms. In my estate, about 90% of the 2 bedroom houses have converted the attics for use as bedrooms, and I doubt that they are all considered habitable spaces. I'm genuinely asking this question, because I would like to get the correct insurance cover.

Eggs For Dinner

coylemj wrote: »

The point you're making is to read the terms and conditions and the policy document. Which I do before I move cover. And unless I see something that would be of concern and make me avoid that policy, I buy on price.

You asked me why you shouldn't buy on price ALONE, I gave you an answer

Henry Ford III

coylemj wrote: »

The point you're making is to read the terms and conditions and the policy document. Which I do before I move cover. And unless I see something that would be of concern and make me avoid that policy, I buy on price.

Reading t's and c's doesn't make you an expert.

Nor does googling.

Dane29

So anyone recommend an insurance company/broker for best deal? Anyone have any experience with Supervalue?

Thanks
D

bugsyb4

Hi,

I know this is an old thread but someone might be able to help.

Our house insurance is up in around 2 weeks and we are also currently in the process of switching mortgage too to KBC.

I rang KBC yesterday to get a quote for house insurance to see could they do us an offer as we have banking with them too but anyway he was able to pull up the valuation report we had to get done to switch mortgage and what was on that was recommended insurance cover of 305k with house value of 315k. When I was ringing around I was giving buildings cover of 185k to insurance companies as that was what was on the previous valuation when we bought the house 3 years ago. Is it normal to have such a small gap between house value and buildings cover 10k in this instance? The previous valuation had a gap of 100k which I would have thought would be more in line!

Anyway sorry for long winded detail above but my main q is will I now need to provide buildings figure of 305k to all companies going forward as when switching mortgage I will need to show house is insured by letter of indemnity and this will need to tie back to valuation report I assume? If so will I need to use the same figure every year or could I lower buildings amount as I am planning to fix the mortgage for a number of years so it is only this year I need to provide letter of indemnity? Obviously the higher buildings amount every year would ensure higher insurance cost personally I think valuer put too high a figure down this year!!

Also if anyone has any promotional codes for house insurance they would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot

august12

bugsyb4 wrote: »

Hi,

I know this is an old thread but someone might be able to help.

Our house insurance is up in around 2 weeks and we are also currently in the process of switching mortgage too to KBC.

I rang KBC yesterday to get a quote for house insurance to see could they do us an offer as we have banking with them too but anyway he was able to pull up the valuation report we had to get done to switch mortgage and what was on that was recommended insurance cover of 305k with house value of 315k. When I was ringing around I was giving buildings cover of 185k to insurance companies as that was what was on the previous valuation when we bought the house 3 years ago. Is it normal to have such a small gap between house value and buildings cover 10k in this instance? The previous valuation had a gap of 100k which I would have thought would be more in line!

Anyway sorry for long winded detail above but my main q is will I now need to provide buildings figure of 305k to all companies going forward as when switching mortgage I will need to show house is insured by letter of indemnity and this will need to tie back to valuation report I assume? If so will I need to use the same figure every year or could I lower buildings amount as I am planning to fix the mortgage for a number of years so it is only this year I need to provide letter of indemnity? Obviously the higher buildings amount every year would ensure higher insurance cost personally I think valuer put too high a figure down this year!!

Also if anyone has any promotional codes for house insurance they would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot

From my understanding of this, it's the rebuilding cost of the house which includes fixtures and fittings i.e. bathrooms, fitted kitchens, electrics, wood floors etc, contents are separately valued, I would have expected a bigger difference between house valuation and rebuilding cost. I think there is an online calculator for house insurance if you do a search.

Sunrise_Sunset

Use a calculator like this;

https://www.scsi.ie/advice/renewing_your_house_insurance_rebuild_calculator

I renewed house insurance recently. Aviva and An Post (who are underwritten by Aviva) were the cheapest.