Home Insurance Ireland: The Complete Guide to Protecting Your Property

February 2026

Knowing how to insure your home and feel assured that you’re in safe hands is crucial in today’s world. Insuring your home and protecting your property is a vital step – whether you’re a homeowner, landlord or tenant living in Ireland. So, how can you be sure you have all the facts to make an informed decision? We spoke to our Technical Portfolio Manager, Alan Darcy, about our home insurance product and how to ensure you feel protected.

Allianz offers a range of home insurance cover to suit a wide variety of customers. Owner Occupied home insurance is cover for your home and contents when the property is owned and occupied by you and your family. Renters insurance is cover for your contents (belongings) where you are a tenant renting from a landlord. Landlord’s insurance is cover for your property and contents (if required) where you let the property to tenants and finally, holiday home insurance covers the property and contents of a holiday home.

Home insurance will protect you from many natural, accidental or malicious events, subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy. An overview of some of the situations (perils) covered by our household policy can include: 

• Loss or damage by fire, theft, flood, explosion, storm, and lightning 
• Loss or damage by smoke if there is faulty operation of any oil, gas, electric domestic heaters or domestic cooking appliances within the property 
• Loss or damage due to the escape of water from within any plumbing or heating system, fixed water appliance or domestic appliance. A simple example would be a burst water pipe 
• Loss or damage caused by vandalism or malicious act.

As a guide to content cover, your contents include things like household goods, clothing, furniture and furnishings. Basically, if you were to turn your house upside down it’s everything that would fall out. Our policy covers your possessions in natural, accidental or malicious events, including: 

• Fire, theft, flood, explosion, storm and lightning 
• Smoke damage caused by faulty heaters and cooking appliances in your home 
• Water damage from any plumbing or heating system, fixed water appliance or domestic appliance 
• Vandalism or malicious damage. 

Accidental Damage is an optional cover available under most occupancy types. It provides additional cover for your buildings and/or contents against sudden or unforeseen accidental events**, where selected and shown on your policy schedule.** 

Specified All Risks is an additional cover you can add to the contents section of a family home or renters insurance policy. This insures your personal items like jewellery or mobile phones for loss, theft or damage while outside or away from your home**, subject to policy limits and terms.** More valuable items need to be noted specifically on your policy for their full value.

We use multiple factors when calculating insurance premiums, including but not limited to, the customer’s personal profile; for example, previous claims experience, number of years claims free etc. The property age and location can also be a factor; the amount you insure your buildings and contents for and any additional cover you select. Some factors may specifically drive a reduction in premium e.g. selecting a higher (voluntary) excess or confirming you have additional security in place etc.

Acceptance criteria, underwriting criteria and rating factors apply. 

Get an online Home Insurance quote.

The amount you have your home insured for, the “sums insured”, should reflect the cost of rebuilding your home, including fixtures and fittings, domestic outbuildings, cost of professional fees and site clearance. Your contents amount should reflect the cost to replace the items in the house based on their current replacement value. The “sums insured” is the maximum amount that we will pay in respect of a claim**, subject to the policy terms and any applicable limits.** 

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) have a calculator on their website which you can use for guidance when calculating the rebuilding value (“sums insured”) of your home: https://scsi.ie/consumer/build/calculator/. 

This is only a guide, and the rebuilding rates are for estate-type homes and should not be used for other house styles such as one-off homes or period properties. For these types of homes, a survey might be needed. You should regularly review your “sums insured” and policy schedule to make sure you have enough cover. 

If you’re carrying out renovation or extension work, it’s important to review your house insurance while renovating to ensure your sums insured remain accurate.

In the unfortunate event that something happens to your home, alternative accommodation, or loss of rent if you’re a landlord, is available with Allianz as standard cover. There are limits to this cover which means you are covered for up to 15% of your sums insured, and, in the case of a holiday home, up to a maximum of 3 nights, where the property is uninhabitable following an insured event. We will also cover the costs associated with the temporary storage of your contents**, subject to policy limits and terms.**

An insurance excess is the fixed amount you pay toward a claim before your insurer covers the rest. This amount is deducted from the total claim amount. Our standard excess at Allianz for household claims is €250**, however different excess amounts may apply depending on the claim type and as shown on your policy schedule.** An increased excess applies for escape of water and subsidence claims.

Allianz has over a century of experience in insurance, is one of the world’s largest insurers and has been in Ireland since 1902. Customer numbers and market position may vary over time. It’s also good to know that you’re in great hands when 750,000 customers in Ireland have already chosen us.

Allianz provides four main types of cover: Owner Occupied (for homeowners), Renters Insurance (for tenants' belongings), Landlord Insurance (for rental properties), and Holiday Home Insurance.

The "sums insured" is the maximum amount an insurer will pay for a claim**, subject to policy limits and terms.** For your building, this should reflect the total cost to rebuild your home (not the market value). For contents, it should reflect the current cost to replace your belongings.

Yes. Allianz includes Alternative Accommodation as standard cover (up to 15% of your sums insured) if an insured event makes your home unsafe to live in**, subject to policy terms and limits.**

Allianz p.l.c. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Standard acceptance criteria, terms and conditions apply. *Minimum premium buildings €106.05, contents €86.10, all risks €12.60. 10% off all new Home Insurance policies online. 

Information correct as at 02/03/2026