19 Oct 2017
Posted by Barry Aldworth 
With further unsettled weather expected in the coming days as Storm Brian passes over Ireland and the UK, homeowners are being advised to check that they have an adequate level of home insurance in place.
AA Home Insurance is urging property owners and landlords to take the time now in advance of the winter season to ensure that their home insurance is fully up to date. In particular, homeowners are advised to check that they have an adequate level of home contents insurance in place, as under-valuing your home contents can result in any insurer pay-out being reduced accordingly if you have to make a claim.
“While we’re unlikely to see anything as bad as Ophelia in the foreseeable future, as we move into winter we are going to see more heavy rainfall, storms, and high winds, all of which can cause significant property damage. Unfortunately many homeowners don’t take the time to truly review the level of cover they have in place when renewing their policy and as a result it’s quite likely that they have undervalued their property or their home contents,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs stated. “If you have undervalued your contents, for example, and you are forced to make a claim an insurer could reduce the pay-out to cover the damaged contents proportionally with the level that they were undervalued by.”
The Home Insurance provider is also advising homeowners to take the time to assess their property and the surrounding area in the wake of Hurricane Ophelia. With high winds expected again in the coming days, it’s possible that trees and roof tiles damaged or weakened by Ophelia could pose a further risk during Storm Brian.
“As things stand it doesn’t appear that Storm Brian will possess anything near the destructive power of Hurricane Ophelia, but with high winds expected in the south of the country again there is a real risk that trees weakened earlier this week could fall or be further weakened if Storm Brian affects Ireland,” Faughnan added. “Even if we’re fortunate enough to have this storm pass us by, the winter season poses a much greater risk to homeowners in terms of water damage or having their properties damaged by debris so the coming weeks, before winter truly hits us, is a great time to review your cover.”
“In the days post Ophelia our home insurance team have seen a spike in the number of people looking to purchase cover. However, given that storms can escalate quite quickly it’s important to be proactive and not reactive when it comes to your home insurance. Keeping your cover up to date will mean you and your family will be protected should your home suffer any damage.”
Met Eireann have issued a Status Orange wind warning affecting 7 counties for Saturday October 21 between 6:00 and 18:00. Meanwhile a Status Yellow wind warning will be in place for the entire country from 22:00 on Friday 20 October through to 22:00 on Saturday 21.
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