The massive downturn in property prices, particularly house prices, since 2008 has been staggering. It is generally agreed that on average house prices have decreased by 30% in urban areas of Ireland. In the midlands and more rural areas, price falls have been even more pronounced at near 50% of 2008 values.
Many people mistakenly assume that the value of your house or any property you declare for insurance purposes is the market value or what the property would sell for at auction or private treaty. This is a common misconception. What you actually cover is the re-instatement cost of the house; in other words what it would cost to build it again on the existing site.
Insurance underwriters do little to make the public aware that the market value of their home is a completely different, and higher, amount than the figure it would cost to replace it. A home can have high value because it is situated in a prime location, but it will not cost any more to replace than if it was in a lower value area. Underwriters have a vested interest in higher values being declared because they generate higher premiums for them.
During the housing boom in Ireland, the value of houses rocketed skywards. So too did the cost of labour and materials. So when it came to renewing their policies each year, people increased the values in line with what the latest estimate of the worth of their home was at the time. They might guess that their house was worth 100,000 more than it was last year and insure it accordingly. Naturally their premium increased, but they comforted themselves by the fact that if anything happened then they would have a large payout from the insurance company.
However, if something did happen and your home is destroyed completely, you are in for a shock if you think that the insurance company is going to hand you over a cheque for the figure that the auctioneer values the house. Your home might be 2000 square feet in size and worth over a million euro because of its prime location and that is the amount you have it insured for, but a loss adjuster will coldly calculate that 250 per square foot will build it again and you will get therefore 500,000 in compensation. The lesson therefore is not to over-insure your property. Calculate what it will cost to re-build on its own site by getting a builder or an engineer to estimate the build cost and pay your premium based on that figure, plus your contents.
Learn more about Home Insurance. Stop by Seamus Maguire’s site where you can find out all about House Insurance and what it can do for you.