Whether you own a two-bedroom apartment or a four-bedroom detached house in Ireland, your home is undoubtedly your castle. So, it’s extremely important to ensure that your dream home is protected in case something goes wrong.

But as we all know, home insurance Ireland can be expensive if you don’t know what to look for and where to find it. In this post, we cover five facts you should know about house insurance so that you can make an informed educated choice on the right policy for you while paying less than your current premium, if at all possible.

1. Home Maintenance Matters

Your insurance company wants to ensure that your home is in good condition, so that they can make sure that any unaddressed maintenance work will not make your home more vulnerable to damage or be deemed as unsafe. Moreover, if they do find that any serious damage being claimed for or an accident claim that occurred due to your negligence (unaddressed maintenance requirement) could mean that your claim is refused by their claims department.

So watch for signs of leaks, keep all trees trimmed and get regular roof inspections. If you detect any unusual spikes in the water bill, it might be a sign of a plumbing leak within your property and this type of maintenance must be investigated, detected and fixed immediately.

2. You Should Not Always Make a Claim

Insurance is a unique product. You buy it and yet hope you will never have to use it. Repairing damage to your property is not always that expensive and sometimes does not warrant making an insurance claim against your policy. It is important to be aware that making a claim against your policy will have knock on effect on future premiums. On some occasions making a claim for a small amount may affect your no-claim bonus for years to come. The amount that your premium will increase by, multiplied by the amount of years your premium will be affected may not justify you making the claim at all. The amount of additional cost for future premiums may be multiples of the initial cost of the repair that you are claiming for. Make sure that you realise that making an insurance claims could increase the price of future insurance policies for many years to come.

Also, some Insurance companies apply a ‘future risk’ loading premium to some policies that they suspect may make similar ‘small amount’ claims over the life cycle of the properties insurance requirements. Their risk assessment software highlights potential risks in a policy that identifies the probability of a homeowner making an initial small insurance claim and then predicting that they are highly likely to make a second claim and a third claim after that. So, insurance companies typically adjust the cost of a policy that they suspect may have this type of claim activity, to compensate for the future potential risk.

So, avoid making unnecessary, small claims. Only make a home insurance claim when it is absolutely necessary.

3. There’s a Deadline to File a Claim

When it’s time to make a claim for major damage, don’t delay. Make the claim at the earliest possible opportunity. Many house insurance Ireland policies have a 14-day reporting time to ensure that the damage does not get worse over time.
If you don’t make a claim by the deadline, you could end up having to pay for all of the repairs out of your own pocket.

4. You Can Claim Discounts

Earlier, we mentioned that your insurance premium goes up depending on your potential future risk. When you add technology or make home improvements that improve the safety of your home – such as alarm systems, deadbolts, smoke detectors and upgraded doors, roof or windows – you may qualify for discounts. So be sure to inform your insurance broker or insurance company of any advantageous security or monitoring systems installed in your home.

Another thing you can do is use an insurance broker like Britton Insurance. We compare quotes from up to 15 different home insurance companies in Ireland to help you find the best quote available to us on the market.

Remember when you need to buy home insurance, house insurance Ireland, business insurance, van insurance Ireland or car insurance in Ireland ? Contact the experts at Britton Insurance today. Call 074 9721 304