The Irish Brokers' Association has strongly criticised the latest survey on home insurance costs published by the Financial Regulator today.
The survey shows that householders can save between €80 and €230 on their annual home insurance costs. It compares the cost of insurance for six homes in Dublin, Carlow, Laois, Limerick, Mayo and Offaly from the main companies in the market.
But the IBA says the regulator is failing to follow its own advice on shopping around by excluding brokers from its surveys. The IBA claims its members would have improved or matched the quotes obtained by the regulator in the six categories it examined.
But this evening, the Financial Regulator defended its survey, saying it included quotes that were available only through brokers, as well as directly from the insurance companies. It said the survey also included a shop around checklist to help consumers assess quotes from both companies and brokers.
The regulator said the largest saving shown in today's survey was for a new three-bedroom semi-detached timber frame house in Offaly. Quotes on the property ranged from over €260 to nearly €500.
Home insurance covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding our home or replacing the contents of your home. The Financial Regulator says that details of this cover can vary from one insurance company to another, and it cautions that it is import tot get the policy that suits your needs. It points out that buildings insurance should cover the cost of rebuilding a person's home in the event of it being completely destroyed. It says that this is not the same as the market value of a person's home if they decide to sell.
Contents-only insurance for a rented apartment in Dublin is also included in this survey. Consumer Director Mary O'Dea said that many people do not get home insurance when they are renting and can be surprised when they find that their landlord's insurance does not cover their personal possessions.
'It is important to make sure that you could replace your possessions if you had a fire or burglary, so check to see whether you need your own insurance and look at our survey to see where you can get the best value. The lowest quote for this apartment in the survey is €71 a year, so contents-only insurance can be very affordable,' she said.
