There are two main reasons as to why your home is uninsured.
With car insurance premiums breaking the hearts of the Irish nation, life insurance premiums also on the upwards stagger and of course, the price of everything else, you may feel inclined to save a couple of quid by reducing the level of insurance on your property.
Maybe you feel that the chances of needing to claim up to the full sum insured value of your property are so low, you can afford to reduce it down a little?
Insurers reserve the right to reduce the amount they pay out on a claim (regardless of how big/small the claim may be), if your property is not the correct sum insured.
This is in plain sight, in the terms and conditions and they might even apply what is termed “Average”.
SUM INSURED
PAYOUT = CLAIM X ____________
CURRENT VALUE
Do you know how to calculate the ‘Buildings Sum Insured’?
This is the other main reason for underinsurance. Property owners don’t know how to calculate the value of their property correctly.
The amount your property is insured for has actually got nothing to do with the “market value” of the property, or what it costs you to build.
The ‘Building Sum Insured’ should be equal to the current ‘Rebuilding’ cost for your area of the country and for your current house type. This is set by the “Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland” www.scsi.ie.
What, you ask, does my ‘Building Sum Insured’ cover?
Your ‘Building Sum Insured’ should equal the total sum that you would need in order to put you back into the same position you were in before the damage occurred. This is what we call the ‘Law of Indemnity’.
Click on the link below to the Competiton and Consumer Protection Commission website, where you will get a full breakdown on what you should be covered for.
