Home issues with house insurance for cork city southside (subsidence).

jmsm

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Hi does anyone know anything about not being able to get a quote for insurance for house on the southside of cork city because of subsidence?

I have rang a few companies now and some will not quote at all and others will not cover for subsidence.

How can the whole of the south side be classified as having this issue

It all seems like a bit of a cod to me
 
Re: issues with house insurance for cork city southside

There is a history of subsidence in this area.
 
Re: issues with house insurance for cork city southside

Yes, there is a lot of subsidence on the southside of Cork city. There are also a lot of other risks in other parts of the country, e.g. flooding. What I'd like to know is: do insurance companies quote saying something like 'We'll insure your house but you're not covered for subsidence, that is, you will never be able to claim under this risk heading.' (A secondary question is: if you are explicitly excluded for subsidence cover will the premium be cheaper? Cynically I'd say 'No'!).

Is it possible to say to an insurance company: I know subsidence is prevalent in my area and I'm prepared to take out a policy under which this risk is excluded?

Does anyone have any experience with this (whatever the excluded risk was)? Given, for instance, the frequency of flooding in say Fermoy and Mallow what experience have people had there with insurance in terms of getting any other kind of cover (e.g. fire, theft, etc.)?

Another worrying issue here is that if a small number or only one insurance company will take on houses in areas with blanket risk (such as subsidence or flood) with or without subsidence cover, then a monopoly situation might arise due to other players not being willing to enter the market.

It would be useful to have more information on various types of cover available for domestic buildings. Or are they all all-in-one policies?
 
Re: issues with house insurance for cork city southside

well i have just spent another day on the phone today trying to get some kind of insurance for my house and I can't even get a quote in most places

In actual fact if i could even get a quote without the subsidence cover i could try and make an estimate about what to do but i can't even get a quote from most companies because of the location.

I am finding it very frustrating
 
Re: issues with house insurance for cork city southside

This is pretty worrying for me. I'm just about to buy a house on Cork's southside. I'd be pretty happy to get insurance with an exclusion for subsidence. My plan is to save away so that when/if it happens, I'd then have a pot to use. In my last house (about 1000 sq ft) not far from the city centre the insurance was EUR1300 last year and that was BEFORE the floods!!
There must be people out there who've had this problem getting basic cover (just fire, theft and propping up your next door neighbour if your house goes) and not just in Cork.
 
Re: issues with house insurance for cork city southside

I did manage to get domestic insurance cover after my broker trying for about 2 days. Only when I was asked whether I wanted subsidence cover or not did I get cover. The cost is EUR 450 without subsidence cover. I'm not totally happy but I'm glad to get some cover. What is worrying is that from talking to other people around Cork it looks like if you have cover at the moment AND it's being renewed Ok by the insurer (and they don't have to renew?) then there's little chance that you can move to another insurer; so no competition for the insurers and no chance for consumers to reduce their premium.
 
Re: issues with house insurance for cork city southside

You are right to say that there is a choice of susidence cover or not but obviously be aware that there will be an exclusion. This will probably be stated on the policy document.
 
MargaretCork any chance u can tell me who you got to cover your house? I am stuck in the same boat, no quotes...southside of cork city
 
Re: issues with house/ home insurance for cork city southside

An update one year from first getting house insurance on my new home on the Cork southside. I got cover (as already mentioned) without subsidence cover in April 2010 at EUR450 through a broker. In April 2011 I decided to ring around various insurance companies. The quote from my existing insurance company was EUR600 and from my broker was EUR784!! I phoned about 4 other insurance companies and none would quote at all although I pointed out that I would be prepared not to have subsidence cover. Thus I was left with going back to the existing company (needless to say the broker was too expensive). Obviously I am now in a situation where only one company will cover so if prices soar, I'm stuck.
Having said that I was very pleased that I paid the cover in 2 instalments over 2 months and I was able to visit the insurer's office to do this. It made the payment easier and convenient.
 
There is an issue in Cork with people not being able to get quotes as they are not giving quotes for new business. So there is basically little or no competition on that market which is a worrying development.
 
Not able to get home insurance due to subsistence in the area

Hi all,
I am in the process of buying a house in Cork southside and was ringing around insurers today. Most would not even quote me due to subsistence in the area. Two did quote without subsistence cover for 700 and 1700. I am worried about going ahead with the house purchase now as what if the price soars further in future. Anyone else have experience of this issue and or/advice?
Thanks!
 
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