Home Can't get house insurance for house over 100 years

[peteb]

The point I am trying to make is that there is something wrong when you call almost every Insurance company and broker in your hour of need and they refuse to quote on a completly habitable house,

- electrics replaced in 1980 Not too unreasonable and quite commonplace in Ireland. Just over the 25 year limit imposed by a number of
insurance companies. Calling it a firetrap with archaic electrics is a bit of an overaction and helps to explain why the industry is the way it
is. Perhaps you should leave these judgements to qualified electricians?
- Is the house in a flood zone? So if the house is in Cork is it right to assume it is in a flood zone even though it might be on top of a
Patricks hill?
- Is the house in an area of subsidence? How exactly do insurance companies define an area of subsidence? If a house is 500 meters from a
house that has subsided, is it fair to tar all houses within 500m with the same brush? (even though an engineers report states that it is
unaffected). This seems to be a show stopper for some insurance companies. Some insurance companies just exclude it. Others get the
hebegeebies and hang up.
- Is there someone living there? Usually when a house is being sold there is nobody living there so why are there no exceptions made for
this or at least restrict it to fire and public liability until the new owner or tenants move in.

Taken from the Insurance Ireland website,

"As the leading representative body for Ireland’s insurance sector Insurance Ireland is the primary source of industry intelligence and opinion for legislators, regulators, consumers and professionals. Through our Councils, Committees and Working Groups we engage with the Irish government, domestic regulatory authorities and the Financial Services Ombudsman on all of the issues of concern to our members. Our aim is to prevent legislation or regulation that is unnecessary and to ensure that what is necessary is designed and implemented in a way that meets its policy objectives without causing unnecessary harm to the insurance market."

High fives all around!

What's your point?

 

[Leo]

...they refuse to quote on a completly habitable house

Just because a house is habitable doesn't make it a good insurance risk.

In terms of the electrics, I doubt any electrician would sign-off on an installation of that age as being safe. On subsidence & flooding, the insurance companies have access to records of all previous claims in an area, they'll base their assessment on that.

Vacant houses are a magnet for burglars, so it only makes sense that these attract a significant premium or are refused.

 

[Outthegap]

I think you know what my point is. Just to spell it out for you once more,

The industry needs more regulation. The way it is on mainland eurpoe.

All Insurance companies should be obliged to offer quotes for public liability at least.
Jumping to conclusions about property and saying NO for No valid reason is pathetic.

The coordinated negative response from home insurance compnies in ireland regarding older houses is tantamount to collusion.

The definition of insurance is "a thing providing protection against a possible eventuality."
Home insurance companies seem to have forgotten this definition. It has turned into a money making racket where only property that does not actually need insurance is insured.

 

[peteb]

Why does it need more regulation? Why should an insurance company be obliged to provide a quote? And what sense does it make "to offer quotes for public liability at least"? Most householders don't even consider they have PL insurance, all they see is material damage.

I think you just like a good rant. 3 posts all on the one topic. Original post in November and then drift back in 3 months later to respond to nothing? It was originally about houses over 100 years old and your feeling the questions were unreasonable when it fact they are a measurement of the risk involved.

You picked the most simplistic definition of insurance to suit your point. You could also have gone with " Insurance is an in which you to a , and they pay money to you if something to you, for if your property is or damaged, or if you a i". Insurance companies are in the business of making money, not providing a social service. That is the role of the government.

 

[Leo]

Insurance companies are in the business of making money, not providing a social service.

Absolutely, and if insurance companies are forced to take on bad risks, the likelihood is the rest of us will end up paying more.

 

[trajan]

Just encountered the same "no flat roof"/"no 100+ year old house" rules by Axa and FBD when insuring contents of a rented apartment.
The flat roof objection makes more physical sense than the 100+ rule. Flat roofs made pre-1990 would usually be of combustible materials which also leak easily if not carefully pitched toward gutters and sealed.
The age rule seems absurd to me. Some of these old Georgian/Victorian/Edwardian houses are squarely built and only need good insulation and packing up of their massive chimney flues. Their roofs are seldom flat.
So I am inclined to see collusion between the insurers and their own investment funds. The more old houses pulled down, the more new construction - and the more the share value in those plcs and property funds.
Of course no insurer can - or should - be compelled to quote for any kind of house. But if there is a policy to preserve old style houses, a solution must be found for the insurance problem.
It all reminds me of the uninsurable thatched houses in the 70s.

 

[Saavy99]

AXA gave me insurance fior a 150 year old stone cottage last year, It had been newly plumbed and rewired though, as a result my quote came in very low as well.

 

[trajan]

Saavy, were you asked by Axa if the old house was recently rewired and plumbed - or did you volunteer the information in the hope of a low quote ?

 

[Saavy99]

Savvy, were you asked by Axa if the old house was recently rewired and plumbed - or did you volunteer the information in the hope of a low quote ?

They asked when it was rewired, plumbed and reroofed. I believed these appear to be standardquestions for houses over 100 years old.

 

[trajan]

Thanks, Saavy. Sounds fair enough. Wondering about replumbing - this seems to be a new thing. Maybe old systems were more prone to bursting and internal flood damage.