# Home insurance should reduce with prices



## angela59 (28 Jan 2009)

Hi,

I read somewhere recently that premium for home insurance should reduce as the rebuilding costs are lower but insurance companies could still be charging rates from last year or previous years to rebuild which would be substantially higher.  Anyone agree?

Angela59


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## peteb (28 Jan 2009)

No. In fact insurance rates are on the up.  What you probably read was that re-buildings rates have decreased and as a result the sum insured on your house can be adjusted downwards, and the then the premium will proably go down.  But insurers will not do this automatically.  You have ensure, yourself, that your sums insured are sufficient.

Hope this clarifies!


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## briancbyrne (28 Jan 2009)

all personal premiums are up this year as a result of an increase in rates by insurers. You can expect  increases up to 23% - I work in a brokers


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## angela59 (28 Jan 2009)

Hi Peteb,

Thanks for that - Phoned insurance company and while the rebuilding costs droped  they seemed to be pushing up the contents to E78,000 from E69,000 - anyway there was very little in the difference per month so I left well alone.  

Many thanks for your reply

Angela59


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## gillarosa (28 Jan 2009)

There has been a 25% increase in reported burglaries during the past year I believe, this may have an impact too?
I generally shop around, have you tried www.123.ie


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## fobs (28 Jan 2009)

I shopped around this year but when I approached my own insurer with the quotes I has received on-line they dropped the premium by €100 thus becoming the cheapest by €4. Worth trying this with your current insurer!


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## Willowchase (28 Jan 2009)

The incidence of claims always increases during recessions leading to an increase in rates. Last years flooding has not helped either.


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## angela59 (2 Feb 2009)

Hi,

Have done a bit of research and it was worth it as the insurance company had rebuild costs alot higher than it would cost at the present to rebuild and have asked them to reduce in accordance with the www.scs.ie website and it has made a difference to my premium.

Angela59


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## Bunnyadden (2 Feb 2009)

Thank you Angela59 for that - plan on saving myself a few bob tomorrow.  Always stuck in my craw the amount of house insurance but now I have something concrete (no pun!) to measure with.
Cheers.


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## Bunnyadden (3 Feb 2009)

Just saved ourselves €256 on our house insurance.  Rang 123 - got exactly the same terms as our EBS insurance but 250 cheaper.  Rang EBS back and they matched!  AAM rocks!
Many thanks, Angela99!


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## Bronte (3 Feb 2009)

Angela59 is your house full of antiques? (contents of 79K)  And have the contents increased in value since last year by nearly 15%?

Insurance premiums didn't always automatically go up.  It's a very clever trick of annually increasing the house building cost and the contents insurance as a way of justifying increasing the premium and most people don't notice.  How premiums could go up by 23% this year when rebuilding costs are going down is beyond me.


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## jimjim972 (4 Feb 2009)

Bronte said:


> Angela59 is your house full of antiques? (contents of 79K) And have the contents increased in value since last year by nearly 15%?
> 
> Insurance premiums didn't always automatically go up. It's a very clever trick of annually increasing the house building cost and the contents insurance as a way of justifying increasing the premium and most people don't notice. How premiums could go up by 23% this year when rebuilding costs are going down is beyond me.


 

Insurance premiums had come down a lot in the last few years. Mate of mine works in claims department for insurer and he said the claims and more importantly the number of fraudulant claims has risen very significantly in the last year. They have just hired a PI to chase some of the more dubious claims and they have special software that can check if receipts have been tampered with !


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## Chief Seamus (4 Feb 2009)

It's the rebuild cost that is covered. While that has definitely fallen, the bulk of the fall in property values relates to the fall in the speculative value of sites/land and unfortunately this is unrelated to rebuild cost. 
What will happen is the insurance comapny will automatically ratchet up the estimate of rebuild cost even though it should be coming down slightly. Check what level they are quoting at and also shop around.

The increased risk of burglary relates more to the contents than the rebuild cost so premiums for that element increasing probably can be justified.


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## Willowchase (4 Feb 2009)

Unfortunately *all *types of claims increase during a recession (genuine and fraudulent) and the extent of the loss is often exaggerated.


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