What do you need to have on hand when purchasing home insurance?

In the event of the unexpected, it’s important to have home insurance. You spend the bulk of your time in your own home and it’s an important asset to everyone. That’s why for peace of mind alone, it’s essential to invest in house insurance cover. Getting an insurance quote can be relatively stress free. While you might have connotations with home insurance quotes and hard tedious questions, it really doesn’t have to be like that. 

By being informed of all the details surrounding your home including specifics like implemented security measures and rebuild figures, you can speed up your consultation with a broker. This will allow you to get appropriate cover for a good price and in the fastest fashion. 

Here’s 5 things you should have on hand when ringing your insurance broker.  

1.Knowledge of everyone who lives in your house and how often they are home.

Insurance brokers need to have as much information as possible about you and your home in order to source the best cover for the best price.  

Firstly, you will be required to provide the Eircode for your home. Your Eircode is the seven-character alpha-numeric code that was assigned to your residence. Every residential and business property in Ireland has one, if you don’t know yours you can check here.  

Your insurance brokerage will also typically need to know how many people live in your house, how long you and your counterparts have lived there. Once your brokerage has ascertained these basic facts then they can move on to the next phase of information gathering. 

2. Your previous insurance history.

In order to provide you with appropriate cover, your insurance broker will need the full picture. When on the hunt for home insurance you will most likely be asked questions on the details of your existing policy (if any) and its attributes or downfalls. Additionally, you will be required to state and potentially provide a copy of any prior claims you made on your previous home insurance cover.  

3. Informed details about the specifics of your home.

When you’re speaking with an insurance professional about a home insurance quote, they will ask you about specific details regarding your house. To streamline your experience with your broker it’s beneficial to know the year when your house was built as this helps to calculate the risk involved with your home ie. Newer homes tend be less problematic and therefore pose less of a risk.  

You should also be familiar with the type of roof that is on your home. It’s particularly important to know whether your roof is a standard or non-standard construction as this will impact the type of cover you will require in the event of an accident. Having the square footage of your home on hand will also help to maintain the efficiency of the conversation. 

Finally, you may be required to offer a rebuild figure. A rebuild figure is the cost to completely rebuild your home if it was destroyed beyond repair. This figure should include the price of labour and the materials that would be required. The rebuild cost is generally lower than the market value of your home. Basing your home insurance on your rebuild cost is a good way to prevent under or over insuring your house and can subsequently help to ensure that you aren’t paying higher premiums than you need to.  

4.Any information about improvements or modifications to your home.

Sometimes we make improvements to our homes and we become so familiar with them that we almost forget that we ever did them at all. Any modifications that you make to your home whether it’s as simple as updating a central heating system or as large as re-roofing your house, it should be brought to the attention of the broker when seeking insurance.  

Improvements to your home can have an impact on its value which in turn can have an impact on your policy. If these changes aren’t implemented into your existing policy it could be problematic for claims moving forward. Keep a record of any home improvements you make and have them at your disposal when you make a call to your home insurance brokerage. 

5. A comprehensive overview of your security devices.

From apps that let us see who’s knocking on the front door to front door locks that only open with a distinct smartphone, there’s a myriad of amazing security devices that assess and reduce risks. These security measures aren’t just a positive for peace of mind but they’re a positive for your pocket too as they can impact the price of your premium.  

If you have your own security system in place irrespective of whether it’s a basic alarm system or a hi-tech AI system, it’s important to mention it to your insurance broker when you’re looking to purchase coverage. Keep a log of any security measures you invest in and have the maker and brand name of the device you bought at hand. This will speed up your conversation and should positively impact the price you pay for a
policy.  

Home insurance is essential for protecting your home against unexpected damage it’s also vital for protecting your wallet against an unexpected financial loss. When you’re making a call to an insurance broker about home insurance try to have the five factors mentioned above on hand to make your call as efficient as possible.  

At insuremyhouse.ie, we value the importance of protecting a home, we will listen to clients and get all the relevant information before we set out to find you the best cover at the best price. Why not reach out to insuremyhouse.ie today?