Home Insurance
Protect the house you call home. Whether it’s buildings insurance, contents insurance or both, Carole Nash may be able to help. Call 1800 298 551 or get a quote online
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Do I Need Home Insurance?
It’s not a legal requirement for you to take out Home Insurance. However, if you have a mortgage, you may find that your mortgage provider has made it a condition of your loan that your property is at least protected by Buildings Insurance.
Benefits of Home Insurance through Carole Nash
Benefits are subject to your insurer and the cover level chosen, but may include:
- Contents cover worth up to €1,000,000
- Buildings cover worth up to €1,000,000 (area dependent)
- Replacement door locks cover, up to €750
As with all insurances, terms and conditions apply. Please refer to policy wordings for exact cover.
What Does Home Insurance Cover?
Home Insurance is usually made up of either Contents Insurance, Buildings Insurance, or a combined policy which covers both.
Contents insurance covers the personal belongings you keep at home. However, some limitations will apply to what you can receive following theft or damage.
- A maximum for single items – this is the set limit an insurer will pay out for an individual item. If you own valuables worth more than the set limit, you may wish to speak to your insurer about arranging extra cover.
- A maximum for all your contents – most content insurance policies will set an upper limit on what you can receive for replacing your belongings. Before you take out cover, make sure that the policy you choose has a sufficient maximum limit which covers your items’ worth.
Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding your property if it is damaged or destroyed by an ‘insured peril’. Usually, an ‘insured peril’ will refer to damage caused by:
- An escape of water (such as a burst pipe)
- Severe weather conditions
- Fire
- Falling trees
- Theft
- Flooding
- Riots
Depending on your insurer, you may benefit from:
- Cover for replacement door locks – costs covered for replacing locks and lost or stolen keys of external doors and windows, up to €750
- Frozen food cover – costs covered for loss / theft of or damage to frozen food, up to €2,000
- Garden contents cover – costs covered for loss of or damage to contents in the garden, up to €1,000
- Cover for money in the home – up to €750
- Title deeds cover – up to €2,000
- Visitor’s personal effects cover – up to €2,000
- Audio visual equipment cover – up to €2,500
- Help in a home emergency
Maximum limits shown. Other features, benefits and limitations exist, please contact us for details.
What Won’t Home Insurance Cover?
- Wear and tear – General wear to your home, such as worn carpets
- Unoccupied homes – Loss or damage to your property if it is left empty for over 40 days
- Theft by deception – If you are deceived by a thief and willingly hand over your keys to someone who steals from you, you won’t be able to claim on your policy
- Computer viruses – Some insurers may not cover laptops and home computers that are damaged by viruses
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Types of Home Insurance
When insuring your property, there are three policy types to choose from:
Buildings insurance
Buildings insurance covers you against various types of damage to the physical structure of your home. Damage to areas such as the walls, the windows, and the roof will come under this type of policy. Fixtures which can’t be removed, like fitted bathrooms, kitchens and wardrobes are also covered.
Contents insurance
Contents insurance covers all the items that don’t make up the building itself, such as furniture, electronics, and clothing. If your belongings are destroyed or stolen, Contents insurance helps towards the cost of replacing your things.
Combined home insurance
Combined cover gives you both home and contents insurance in one single policy, so you don’t have to take them out separately. Choosing a combined policy with one provider may help to save on your insurance costs.
Who Needs Home Insurance?
Homeowners
If you have a mortgage, it may be a condition of your loan that home insurance is in place.
Renters
It’s up to your landlord to have Buildings cover in place on your rented property. However, you may want to take out your own Contents Insurance policy to help protect your belongings.
Landlords
A typical home insurance policy may not cover all of the risks associated with letting out a property. Landlord Insurance may be better suited in this scenario.
Calculating Your Cover Needs
Understanding Cover Limits
A cover limit, sometimes known as ‘sums insured,’ is the maximum amount an insurer is willing to pay out for a claim. It’s important to make sure that the limits you choose are enough to cover the value of both your home (buildings) and possessions (contents).
Your Buildings Insurance should cover you for your home’s rebuild cost following an insured event, like a flood, storm, or house fire. Your Contents Insurance should cover the cost of replacing your possessions if they are damaged or stolen. You must carefully assess the value of your belongings to make sure you choose an appropriate cover limit.
- Some policies may have single item limits on the value of things like single pieces of jewellery or items of tech.
- Factors Affecting Premium (e.g. location, value of property)
- A combination of factors is considered when calculating the cost of your home insurance premium. These include:
- Address and postcode
- Crime rates
- Flood risk
- Property type i.e. flat, terraced house, semi-detached property, or detached house
- Building materials
- Age of property
- Rebuild value
- Size of building
- Security features
- Claims history
- Value of contents
- Inflation
- Lifestyle – i.e. smoking, children
Optional Add-ons
- Personal possessions – cover items that you take outside of the home, such as laptops, keys, and smartphones.
- Accidental damage cover – cover one-off unintentional incidents which damage your home or belongings.
- Personal accident cover – receive financial support in the event of an accident
- Contents in garden – cover items which are kept outside the home on your land, either permanently or temporarily
- Childminding cover – cover the house whilst it’s in the care of a registered childminder
- Cover for an office in your home
- Cover for a caravan
Making a Claim
If something happens which results in your property or possessions being damaged or stolen, we will make it as simple as possible for you to make a claim on your Home Insurance policy.
Process for Making a Claim
- Prepare for the call
- Make sure you have as much information to hand as possible as this will help us to process your claim faster
- Gather your policy documents, police crime reference number (if you have one), evidence of damage, and any photos, receipts, or recent valuations of your missing belongings
- Call your insurer
- Contact your home insurance company directly
- If you don’t know who your provider is, their details can be found on posted documents and policy schedules
- If you need help finding their details, contact Carole Nash on 1800 298 551
- Make your claim
- Once you’re in contact with your insurance provider, they’ll request details for your claim and authorise any required repairs
- They may arrange a property inspection before providing repairs and replacements
Getting a Home Insurance Quote
What information do I need to provide?
Before we can give you a Home Insurance quote, you’ll need to provide us with a few details about your property, these include:
- The type of property you own, including the number of rooms it has and the year it was built
- The building materials used for structural walls and the roof
- Security features – such as burglar alarms, smoke detectors, and locks
- The level of cover you would like for your home and possessions, including a policy start date
FAQs
- Pay annually – paying in instalments means interest charges, so aim to pay upfront if you can. It will not make your premium cheaper, but you will pay less in total.
- Increase security – the better protected your property is, the less of a risk your home poses. You may be able to reduce your premium if your home is fitted with security equipment and secure window & door locks
- Consider a combined policy – insurance providers may be inclined to offer lower premiums to customers who combine their home and contents insurance.
Contact your home insurance provider before you move house to make them aware of your move. If you provide the details of your new property to them, they may be able to give you an updated quote for your new address, leaving you to decide whether to stick with your current insurer or not.
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