The BT Blog #6

Guest Blog by Jonathan Hehir, Managing Director of www.insuremyhouse.ie

All mortgage holders are required to take out a home insurance policy, but whether you’re a first time buyer, or are renewing your annual cover, it’s easy to get bogged down in the fine print – when all you really want to know is that you have an appropriate level of cover at a good price…

If this is you – read on…

Did you know that there are 15+ home insurers in Ireland and that their quotes can vary hugely, with price differentials ranging anywhere from €100 to €700 on a typical home? So you can either be a saver or a spender. The only way to know you’re not being ripped off is by scouring the market and getting quotes from every provider. But do people do this?

We commissioned an independent consumer survey earlier this year of 1,000 participants nationwide, which revealed that 76% of people are missing out on savings either by not shopping around at all, or by limiting their choice by going direct to just two or three providers. Surprisingly, young people were much more likely to believe “loyalty” pays, an assumption which costs money, with 21% of 25-34 year-old respondents saying they “stay loyal” and stick with the same provider year on year.

To see just how much you could be spending, or saving, just look at three typical home insurance cases and compare the most expensive price quotes with the cheapest in the market. The differences are staggering.

In one case of insurance for a buy-to-let property, one particular insurer was charging over €700 more than the cheapest provider on the market. In a separate case of a typical family home, the most expensive premium quoted was three times greater than the least expensive.

Follow these 4 steps and you’ll definitely save yourself money:

1.  Shop Around: If you do nothing else – do this!
2. Secure Your Home: Most insurers will offer discounts for people with alarms and/or monitored alarm systems. If you have one of these be sure to inquire whether any discounts apply. A monitored alarm could reduce premiums by up to 25%. While these may have been expensive a few years ago the cost of alarm monitoring has reduced significantly so may be worth looking into
3. Check Policy ‘Add-ons’ – extras like accidental damage are often costly and not always necessary. There’s little point in specifying valuable items such as iPads and bicycles if you opted for a higher excess, say €500
4. Increasing the Excesses on your policy will invariably reduce the cost of your premium. However, you need to ensure that you don’t end up having to pay out a fortune in the event of a claim

At a time when every penny counts, looking at your regular, annual expenditure is a worthy pursuit to save yourself some money – remember home insurance is one of those areas where you can pay a lot or a little for the same product.