house insurance renewal

[bond-007]

Hi

Just got my renewal notice from 123.ie and I have noticed that the policy sums covered have increased, buildings from 200k to 210k and contents from 50k to 53k. I have not asked for these increases. Is this practice normal?

Also, is a condition for lenders that the buildings cover be increased each year?

 

[huskerdu]

This is normal practice to increase the sums covered to take inflation into consideration.

AFAIK, It is a condition that the entire building cost be covered by insurance. If the cost of rebuilding was 200K last year, it is likely to be 210K this year, but if you are concerned that you are over-insured, it is possible to get an estimation of rebuilding costs from a surveyor and base your insurance on that. You might find that the building costs are higher than you think.

 

[demoivre]

It's normal in my experience also to have the sums insured increased automatically at renewal - not sure if it's a lenders requirement though. The society of chartered surveyors give a useful [broken link removed] table if it's any use to you.