Do you need buildings insurance in Ireland?
If you’re a homeowner, buildings insurance could save you thousands if your home gets damaged. Here’s what’s covered, extras you can add, and exclusions to look out for.
What is buildings insurance?
It’s an insurance policy that could pay for the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home if it suffers damage.
What does it cover?
It covers the main structure of your home (bricks and mortar, roof, floors and walls) plus:
- Fixtures and fittings e.g. a fitted kitchen and tiles
- Garages, conservatories and outbuildings
- Other structures like boundary walls, patios, gates and decking
It doesn’t cover your personal belongings, you’ll need a contents insurance policy for these.
Who is it for?
Buildings cover is for anyone who owns a property that they live in or rent out.
If you’re a landlord, you’re responsible for insuring the property itself, and your tenants are responsible for insuring their belongings.
If you’re a homeowner, buildings cover may be a condition of your mortgage, as it offers protection against damage and theft, which lowers the risk.
What does it protect your home against?
Most policies commonly cover damage caused by:
Your policy may also include cover for alternative accommodation that could be needed, for example, following a break-in or flood.
Check the exclusions for each of the examples and choose a policy that fully meets your needs.
What’s not included?
Most policies won’t cover you for damage caused by:
If your home is unoccupied for a set number of consecutive days (usually 30 or more), your policy may be invalidated. So, if you’re planning on being away for a while, make sure you get specialist cover.
What extras can you add on?
If there are features you need that aren’t included as standard, you can pay more to add them on. Some extras include:
- Accidental damage to buildings: This covers unintentional, sudden damage to things like kitchen units, roofs, and ceilings.
- Replacement of external door locks: If your keys have been stolen following a break into your home, you won’t need to pay for your locks to be changed.
- Trace and access: This covers the cost of removing or replacing any part of the building to repair a water, oil, or gas leak.
- Breakage of fixed glass and sanitary fittings: This includes the replacement or repair of things like windows, skylights, washbasins, and baths if the damage is accidental.
- Fire brigade charges: from your local authority will be covered if the fire services need to control or extinguish a fire affecting your building.
Only add on the extras you need, as they will bump up the cost of your policy.
How much should you insure your home for?
You’ll need to know the cost of rebuilding your home, which is different from its market value.
Some providers use a bedroom-rated method to calculate the rebuild cost, which is based on the number of bedrooms in the home and isn’t always accurate.
Others use the cost to rebuild from scratch - you can use the rebuild calculator from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland to help with this.
The more accurate the calculation the better. You could pay more for a higher rebuild cost than you need to, but you wouldn’t get more than the actual rebuild cost back if you had to claim.
How to get buildings insurance
Search for home insurance providers or brokers to get as many quotes as possible.
As well as confirming basic information like house type and number of bedrooms, you’ll also need to confirm:
- The year the house was built
- Its history e.g. subsidence and flooding in the area
- Roof type
- Heating type
- How many smoke detectors are fitted
- If there’s an alarm system and whether it’s monitored
Always give accurate information or your policy could be invalidated and won’t pay out in a claim.
How to get a discount on your policy
It’s usually cheaper to buy a combined buildings and contents policy. If you use the same provider for other types of insurance, like car insurance or life insurance, you may be eligible for a multi policy discount.
Build up your no-claims bonus - which is the number of consecutive years you’ve been claim-free - by not claiming for small losses. Five years of no-claims could earn you a significant discount.
Some providers now offering discounts on new quotes for homes with a BER rating of B3 or higher.
When you’re getting quotes, look out for general discounts and offers, such as discounts for buying online or introductory offers.
Find out more about contents insurance
Buildings insurance FAQs
Does buildings insurance cover my belongings?
No, you’ll either need a separate contents insurance policy or a combined buildings and contents policy.
Do I need buildings cover if I'm renting a property?
No, the property owner or landlord is responsible for insuring the building. You will need to get contents insurance though to cover your personal belongings, including any furniture or furnishings.
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