Five things to know about home insurance
We speak to Ciaran Ryan, Head of Insurance Products at KBC Bank Ireland about the importance of home insurance and exactly what homeowners need to know
We speak to Ciaran Ryan, Head of Insurance Products at KBC Bank Ireland about the importance of home insurance and exactly what homeowners need to know
Owning your own home is costly and it may be one of the biggest and most valuable assets in your lifetime. Remember the years it took to save up to get your mortgage and all those homemade lunches you brought to work? Remember how you spent months figuring out which shade of red you should paint the living room and then just painted it cream in the end anyway? Don’t let all your hard work go to waste. Having the right home insurance can prepare you for any unexpected crisis and save you from having to fork out a lot of money in the future.
With that in mind, here are the five biggest things you need to know about home insurance:
1. WHAT IS HOME INSURANCE?
Home insurance covers losses and damage to a person’s house and to contents within the home. Insurance can be bought separately for both the building and contents, but can also be sold as one single policy. This kind of policy covers: n The building; your house is insured against damage from the likes of fire, theft and weather damage. n The contents; these are items within your home such as television sets, sofas and kitchen equipment. High-value items such as jewellery and electronic equipment can also be covered outside the home under an optional extra called all risk cover. n Extra benefits; these include public liability cover, lock replacement and alternative accommodation.
2. WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE DOES HOME INSURANCE PROTECT AGAINST?
There are many types of damage covered under home insurance, but the most common types are:
n Flooding n Damage from weather events such as the ‘Beast from the East’ n Fire n Theft n Burst pipes due to freezing conditions Ciaran Ryan, Head of Insurance Products at KBC Ireland, says it’s important to protect your house from any unexpected crisis which crops up.
“Customers should protect both their home and their contents within the home against weather damage, theft and general loss,” says Ciaran. “Last year, there was a surge in home insurance claims against the extreme weather conditions such as storms and heavy snowfall. These events show how important home insurance is.”
3. WHAT IS PART OF THE BUILDING COVER AND WHAT ARE THE CONTENTS?
Ciaran says, “The simple way to look at it is to imagine you are moving out of your house. Your contents would be anything you could put into the removal van, such as beds, televisions, furniture and even clothes, which a lot of people seem to forget about!
“Then you have your high-value items such as jewellery, laptops and expensive sports equipment. These need to be specified under a policy protecting those possessions both inside and outside the home. These contents need to be independently evaluated for the policy. Items such as fitted wardrobes, or a fitted kitchen are there to enhance the property and are therefore under the buildings cover.”
All types of insurance are there to protect against the ‘what if ’ scenarios. What if your house was flooded, or what if you were robbed and your €5,000 engagement ring was stolen? So, what if the worst does happen? What do you do to make a claim?
“The first thing to do is contact your insurer and register your claim,” says Ciaran. “The insurer will investigate that claim and seek evidence about what happened, and ask about the items lost and their value. For any claim, it is important to have items evaluated and keep receipts as evidence. My advice would be to also take photographs of any high-value items in the event of theft, to prove they were exactly as you say they were.”
4. HOW MUCH DO I INSURE FOR?
When taking out insurance on a home, it’s important to know just how much to insure your building for. Ciaran says he would advise people to visit the Society of Chartered Surveyors website. They have a guide in terms of house rebuilding costs and a calculator (www.scsi.ie/advice/ house_rebuilding_calculator), to figure out a broad evaluation of what to insure for. When determining how much to insure your contents for, remember to also include your clothes and, of course, any high value items you own.
“My advice for those taking out home insurance would be to also look at the benefits provided. These can include public liability cover and alternative accommodation cover. Alternative accommodation covers the cost of alternative accommodation if your property suddenly becomes uninhabitable as a result of a claim. These provide peace of mind for customers if a disastrous event takes place.”
5. HOW MUCH IS HOME INSURANCE?
There are a number of determining factors as to how much your insurance premium will be. Some of these factors include your number of years claim free and whether there is an alarm on the property.
KBC Bank offers competitive home insurance, which also includes unspecified all risks cover up to €2,000* automatically included on the policy and there is no additional charge if paying by direct debit.
Ciaran says: “For anyone confused about their home insurance, I would encourage people to visit any of our 16 KBC hubs, or give us a call on 1800 51 52 53.or visit www. kbc.ie.”