Winter is HERE so get your house in order… and there’s good news for e-car owners

Storm Babet wreaked havoc with homes across the country this week, leading to a surge in insurance claims. HELEN MERRY, chief underwriting officer at insurers Allianz, gives us some tips on preparing our homes for winter. She also tells us about a new scheme to rebuild better insulated homes and how insurers are upgrading cover for electric car owners.

Winter seems to arrived with a vengeance this week. What can householders can do to prepare?

One of the most important things people can do is to get their chimneys cleaned in advance of lighting fires and check their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Anything else?

To protect against frozen pipes, you can insulate pipes with heat tape. Alternatively, when possible, you can also put your central heating on a lower temperature and for longer and, if your tank is in the attic, leave the attic door open a tad to allow heat in and keep the pipes warm. To protect your home [against mould], use a dehumidifier to reduce the moisture in the air. Make sure air vents are open and not blocked. When having a shower and cooking, open windows to allow moisture to escape, but keep the doors shut so steam doesn’t travel to other rooms.

What is the Rebuild Better scheme?

Rebuild Better is a first-of-its-kind for the Irish insurance market and is open to all Allianz home insurance customers. It offers customers with buildings cover an additional €5,000 on claims of €50,000 or more to make sustainable, energy-efficient improvements to their homes. Claims over €50,000 under the premises section of the policy for losses such as… burst water pipes, fire, flood, storm, subsidence qualify for Rebuild Better once the SEAI grant is availed of.

How does it work?

Customers notify Allianz following a loss or damage to their premises and a loss adjuster is appointed. If the cost of the claim is over €50,000 the loss assessor will inform the customer of the availability of

Rebuild Better. Once an SEAI contractor has completed the work… Allianz will pay the customer the additional €5,000.

Will this help reduce winter claims? Rebuild Better has a role to play as well insulated homes are warmer homes and therefore better protected from the impact of cold weather.

Will they also get grants on top of that extra money?

Rebuild Better will not preclude customers from extra grants. The extra capital given to customers will provide an additional boost to SEAI grants already available to consumers and allows them to choose from a wide range of energy upgrades. There is a complete list available on the SEAI website. Electric car sales are up by over 60%. But expensive incidents, such as fires, may affect them more than petrol and diesel cars. Are insurers improving cover to account for this? Last year, we expanded our standard motor benefits… to include cover for accidental damage, fire and theft to charging cables while in use without the application of excess or impacting on a customer’s no claims bonus; additional cover for accidental damage, fire and theft of battery, even if the battery is leased separately from the car. There’s also cover for legal liability for damages from property damage, injury or death, arising from charging cables.