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Fire via Shutterstock
# Insurance
Here's how much a fire in your house could cost you
Plus, new insurance figures show that just one in eight claims are related to burglary.
IF YOUR HOUSE is struck by a fire, it can cost thousands of euro in insurance claims.
New figures from GetCover.ie say that water damage is the number one cause of loss in homes, with over 30 per cent of claims coming from this single area.
But it’s the damage that a fire causes that can bring on the biggest strain to your finances. The average cost of an insurance claim for fire damage is just under €15,000.
That’s six times more expensive than the average water damage claim.
Here’s what the claims survey found:
David Hughes said that recent weather conditions have brought the issue of home insurance and claims to the forefront of the minds of the Irish public.
Liability claims – where someone has an accident on your property – produce high average claims amounts, but these events are rare.
Although about 48 per cent of people opt for accident damage cover, it still accounts for almost one in five claims.
Meanwhile, break-ins only accounts for one-in-eight claims.
Hughes said that the recent flooding and storms “are likely to change the landscape of home insurance claims for 2014″.
It’s difficult to know what will happen with premiums this year. The weather has definitely lead to an increase in claims recently, but insurance pricing is cyclical and all insurers experience cycles of low to high claims volumes. When claims volumes are low, insurers will tend to reduce their rates to remain competitive and this is the market we are currently operating in.
Read: Insurance industry: Too early to estimate cost of damage caused by storms>
Read: Huge spike in demand for insurance & claims specialists following storms>
