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’re asking an Allianz expert all the questions about home insurance to ensure you feel protected.  

Alan Darcy is a Technical Portfolio Manager with Allianz Ireland, he spoke to us about the different policies available with Allianz.

What type of home insurance is available with Allianz? 

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 you need it) where you let the property to tenants and finally, holiday home insurance covers the property and contents of a holiday home.

What does home insurance cover?

Home insurance will protect you from many natural, accidental or malicious events. 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.

Shutterstock / shisu_ka Shutterstock / shisu_ka / shisu_ka

Can you explain content cover in more detail?

As a guide to content cover, your contents includes 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 any sudden or unforseen accidental events.

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. More valuable items need to be noted specifically on your policy for their full value.

What affects the cost of home insurance (i.e. age of building etc)? 

We use multiple factors when calculating insurance premiums, some include, but are 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.

Shutterstock / Tutatamafilm Shutterstock / Tutatamafilm / Tutatamafilm

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. Your contents amount should reflect the cost to replace the items in the house based on their current value. The “sums insured” is the maximum amount that we will pay in respect of a claim. 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/.

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.

Are there any exclusions I should be aware of? 

An insurance policy carries specific exclusions and customers should always read their policy documents in full and in detail. Some general exclusions could include any loss or damage arising from an event (peril) not covered by the policy, loss or damage arising from damage that existed before the policy was in place, loss or damage arising from wear, tear, breakdown, malfunction or anything occurring gradually; leaking or seepage of water. 

Is alternative accommodation covered if something happens to my home? 

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, up to a maximum of 3 nights where the property is a holiday home and where the property is uninhabitable following an insured event. We will also cover the costs associated with the temporary storage of your contents.

What is the excess/deductible that I would have to pay for a claim? 

An excess is the first amount of any claim that you are responsible for paying in the event of making a claim. This amount is deducted from the total claim amount. Our standard excess at Allianz for household claims is €250, an increased excess applies for escape of water and subsidence claims. 

Why should I choose Allianz over competing insurance providers? 

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

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.