First Time Buyer’s Guide to Home Insurance

We know it isn’t as exciting as picking out your new couch or planning the kitchen, where your family will share meals for years to come, but home insurance does matter. Before your eyes glaze over, check out our quick and easy first time buyers guide to home insurance: what it is, why you need it and what you should look out for.

What is home insurance? 

Home insurance is a form of property insurance for your residence. It will cover you if your house is damaged by fire, theft, storm, flooding or similar occurrences. Home insurance is made up of two different products:

Building insurance: this is protection for the structure of your home. Typical reasons for claiming from this product would be storm damage to the roof of your house.

Contents insurance: this is protection for the contents of your home. Typical reasons for claiming from this product include stolen or damaged goods following a burglary.

Why do I need home insurance? 

Home insurance protects the things you love if they are damaged, lost or stolen, providing you with compensation to repair or replace them.

Should I just choose the cheapest home insurance? 

Home insurance is one thing, as a first-time buyer where the cheapest isn’t always the best. It is better to focus on what each policy offers. Although the premium may seem great for some products, there could be a higher excess when you make a claim. An excess is an amount you must pay before your insurance plan covers you. Ensure you would be comfortable paying any excesses, even in a crisis, before signing up to a policy.

Do I need to value all the contents of my house for my home insurance? 

No, not usually, however it is worth documenting any big ticket items with your home insurance company like:

Jewelry: if you own valuable pieces, have them valued by a reputable professional and provide the valuation to your home insurance provider. It is also worth taking photos of them and keeping them somewhere secure in the event they are lost or stolen.

Electronics: the modern family home is filled with valuable technology, from phones, laptops, tablets and smart TV’s it is worth listing what is in your home and their value (allowing for depreciation) for your insurance company.

If you have other questions, check out our ‘top home insurance questions answered’ or tweet us @AIGIreland. In the meantime use our home insurance calculator to find home insurance that works for you.

 

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