Have home insurance costs increased (in general) this year?

[Bronte]

In the last few years insurance companies have been automatically increasing the level of rebuild, as the cost of building has gone up, if rebuild costs have gone down (which I believe they have) then the premiums should also go down. Ed504, you may think that MB04 is under insuring but some people will not hire architects etc to rebuild and know other ways to avoid high build costs. There is a major difference between what a builder will charge you for building and what it would cost if you do it yourself.

 

[ClubMan]

I always use the SCS guide to get a rough estimate of my rebuilding costs. I then add a fudge factor on the basis that I'd prefer to be slightly over rather than under insured.

SCS House Re-Building Insurance Guide- May 2008

 

[aircobra19]

My insurance dropped this year after renegotiating it with the same company.

 

[ClubMan]

Is €314K a reasonable reinstatement cost to insure for in your case? How did you arrive at that figure?

 

[Bronte]

My renewal premium went from €274 to €397 (through a broker underwritten by Zurich) but I did have two claims in the last period of insurance.

I always thought house insurance premiums could not go up because of a claim unlike car insurance where you have a no claims bonus.

 

[Ed054]

Are you sure that your contents sum insured is correct?
It does seem very low.
Unless all you kitchen appliances are built in they would be considered as contents let alone the usual carpets surtains e.t.c.

 

[Ed054]

In the last few years insurance companies have been automatically increasing the level of rebuild, as the cost of building has gone up, if rebuild costs have gone down (which I believe they have) then the premiums should also go down. Ed504, you may think that MB04 is under insuring but some people will not hire architects etc to rebuild and know other ways to avoid high build costs. There is a major difference between what a builder will charge you for building and what it would cost if you do it yourself.

You are correct but Insurers will calculate rebuilding costs to include these fees and if the figure does not correspond you can have a issue with underinsurance.
The SCS guide is a good guide and should be used as a base figure to calculate rebuild costs.

 

[ClubMan]

Seems not - their standard quotes were higher so they will match the original renewal premiums and refund an additional €100 in each case on switching.

The original SimplyMortgages renewal premiums printed on the renewal notices were €258 and €292 but these were scratched out and cut to €236 and €267 respectively before being eventually dropped further to the 2007 prices of €217 and €240 respectively. The original higher figure is the one that 123.ie will match and so the effective 2008 premiums with 123.ie would be €158 and €192 respectively - a 27% and 20% discount respectively on the lowest premiums on offer from SimplyMortgages.

Obviously I am concentrating mainly on price here but am pretty sure that the cover in both cases is equivalent but will verify this by referencing the relevant policy booklets.

Followed through on this and 123.ie matched the lower renewal premiums on offer elsewhere and will be issuing 2 x €100 refund cheques in the coming days. As I said the cover from 123.ie is comparable to what was already in place and this cover is adequate for the needs in question.