Household Insurance: Best ways to making sure you are adequately insured, while not over-insuring yourself

With the economic downturn and the sever drop in property values, many homeowners are over insured on their home insurance policy; most are either over insured but some have undervalued their home therefore underinsuring themselves. There are many problems with both of these situations and we at simplyinsure.ie want to help you with them.

There are many different variables that must be taken into account when trying to insure your home. That’s why it is imperative to select the best policy to cater for your needs. Remember that insurers won’t provide a suggestion and you should take careful note that a lot of policies have clauses for underinsurance.

Over Insured

House Insurance is based on indemnity, this means that the insurer is only obligated to reinstate what you had, and not any bit extra. Being over insured is a very common problem and can cost you more. For instance by insuring your home for more than it is worth, the most you will receive should a claim occur is the rebuild cost of your home.

Underinsured

This scenario is the opposite and is often more detrimental to your financial situation. If your home is insured for a sum of money that does not cover the rebuild cost of your home, then should an incident occur which leads to a claim your insurer may apply a clause which is basically restricting the payment of the claim. If you have your house underinsured by 20%, they may take 20% off the settlement of a claim (Total claim amount €100,000, they may only pay out €80,000)

More often then not many clients are unaware that they are over insured or underinsured. As one of Ireland’s top insurance brokers, we will take your financial and personal needs into account and get the best annual premium and cover for you and your money rather then simply providing the lowest premium which might leave you over or under insured.

How Can I Avoid This?

A simply way to avoid over insuring or under insuring your home is to find out the square footage/square meters and log onto the chartered surveyors of Ireland’s website to get the official rebuild guide that every insurer is working off. The link is https://www.scsi.ie/news_reports/press_releases/scs_press_releases_2011/scshouserebuild2011 and is a very worth wile exercise

The Contents of Your Home

Many homeowners overlook the contents of their homes and when it comes time to make a claim, they have a hard time obtaining the replacement costs as they have omitted them or have not updated their insurance.

It is important to mention anything of value when arranging insurance, for example those expensive electrical equipment or maybe the luxury curtains that you just bought are worth insuring.

It is a very good idea to take pictures and retain valuations in a safe place. This can come very handy when making a claim and your insurance company may request proof of purchase or proof of ownership of items.

What If I have to make a Claim?

Don’t worry about making a claim as we will be there every step of the way. Making a household claim can be a tough experience, however our team of experts is on hand to deal with any queries or questions you may have. Once you make a claim with us, we will be with you step by step to advise and help you. We will also liaise with other parties to make sure the claim is dealt with in the swiftest manner possible.

At simplyinsure we pride ourselves in our customer service. This means that we take you, your financial situation and your needs and get the best cover for your money. We hate to see people lose money by over insuring their property or be a risk by under insuring it. We will make sure you get the best cover and lowest premium that we can for your needs.