Homeowners could be paying as much as €10,000 more for their home insurance over the lifetime of their mortgage because of where they live, according to Peopl Insurance.
The cost comparison analysis by the insurance firm examined the cost of home insurance for a first-time buyer of a three-bedroom semi-detached home with a rebuilding cost of €400,000 and contents worth €30,000 - across various addresses throughout the country.
The analysis discovered that there can be a 62% difference per year to insure the same property in the cheapest and most expensive areas.
Dominic Lumsden, spokesperson for Peopl Insurance, said the location of a property has a huge bearing on the cost of insuring it.
"Insurers take the address into account when determining the risk profile of a property - and in turn, the premium they will charge. For example, homeowners in areas that are prone to flooding, or are experiencing a surge in crime, will often pay more."
There are also some less obvious location-related factors that could also impact the premium quoted.
"Sometimes living in a more affluent area can also push up your premium - if an insurer assumes that these homeowners there have more valuables," Mr Lumsden explained.
Distance from emergency services, which could see some rural homeowners facing a longer wait than their urban counterparts for a fire brigade or other vital help, is another factor which an insurer may take into account.
All of this means that a homeowner could be paying hundreds of euro more a year for their home insurance than another homeowner with a similar property - and simply because of where they live.
"This additional cost will add up over the years: it is usually a condition of a mortgage that buildings home insurance is in place and a home mortgage term could run for as long as 35 years, depending on the lender and how long the borrower takes to clear their mortgage."
Peopl's analysis found that the cost of home insurance for a three-bedroom semi-detached home varied from €493 in Carlow to €801 in Roscommon.
Its analysis also uncovered cost variations within some counties – for example, while it cost €537 to insure a three-bedroom home in Dalkey, that cost rose to €614 for Tallaght.
The research found that the most expensive counties to insure the home in were Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon while the cheapest were Carlow, Waterford and Kilkenny.
