How much should I insure my home for?
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. The “sums insured” is the maximum amount that we will pay in respect of a claim.
You should regularly review your “sums insured” and policy schedule to ensure that they are at the correct level to avoid underinsurance.
How can I calculate how much to insure my home for?
Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland 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/. Please note that this is for guidance purposes only 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 may be required.
Survey
You may wish, at your own expense, to get a rebuilding valuation from a professional surveyor, builder or architect to establish the appropriate “sums insured” for your home. Remember, this is different to a valuation from an estate agent who would provide the sale price of your home.
What is indexation?
In order to help reduce the risk of you being underinsured, we adjust your “sums insured” in line with inflation at your renewal date to help you to ensure you are adequately protected, this is known as indexation. While we apply indexation to safeguard you from underinsurance, we only increase your “sums insured” in line with inflation, and we remind you of your obligation to review your “sums insured” to make sure they are appropriate for your home.
How much should I be insuring my contents for?
The amount you insure your contents for should be based on the cost of replacing the contents ‘as new’ at today's prices, and should cover everything that you would take with you if you moved house. The contents should cover all items within the home and domestic outbuildings. If cover is needed for items away from the home e.g. jewellery, All Risks cover must be selected. Refer to the All Risks Cover section of the Household Policy Document for full details and the section on what is “All Risks” cover below.
How can I update my “sums insured”?
Regardless of when your renewal date is, we recommend that you review your “sums insured” regularly to ensure they are up to date and reflect today’s cost to rebuild your home. Once you have reviewed your “sums insured”, there are two ways to update your details:
Or
- Call us on 01-448 48 48 and our staff will be happy to assist, our phone lines are open Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm and on Saturdays from 9am – 1pm
