18 Feb 2019
Posted by Barry Aldworth 
As a homeowner protecting your home and family will be one of your top priorities meaning that having an adequete level of home insurance in place is vital. To help you ensure you have the right level of cover in place, while also sticking to your budget, we’ve put together a short list of 5 important things to consider before insuring your home.
Value Your Home Correctly
When purchasing home insurance, you should base your cover on how much it would cost to rebuild your home – not the market value. If your home was destroyed by fire or a weather event, you would still own the land meaning you would not have to worry about the cost of acquiring this. If you’re unsure of your home’s re-build cost, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland calculator may be a helpful guide.
Shop Around
As with any insurance product, it’s important to be loyal to your own pocket first and foremost. Many people simply take out home insurance when first buying their home and allow it to renew year-on-year. Making a habit of shopping around, however, can help you save on your annual premium. When shopping around, make sure that you look into what each policy covers as sometimes the cheapest policy may not be the best fit for your needs.
Increase Your Excess
The excess represents the amount you will have to pay towards any claim that you make on your policy. Increasing this figure can help lower your premium while not affecting your level of cover. However, remember that you will have to pay this amount if you make a claim so make sure that the excess is within your budget.
Avoid Over-Insuring Your Contents
When adding contents to your home insurance, it’s important that you insure them for their current value and not what you originally paid. Over-valuing your contents can increase your home insurance costs but also, in the event of a claim, your insurer will still only cover the current replacement value of any stolen or damaged items.
Add An Alarm
Installing a burglar alarm to your property is a great way to provide you with some extra security, while also giving your insurer some additional peace of mind. Having an alarm in place makes your home less attractive to burglars and may, as a result, provide you with a discount on your home insurance.
