Which insurance policy to go for?

Hi - I've narrowed down house insurance policy to two. The house has a small flat [physically] attached the side of the house, which we let to a couple. It represents, I would say, about one-sixth of the floor area of the total house.

The first insurance company (with whom we are currently insured) require us to take out two separate policies, with a min rebuild figure of €115k on the flat (more than what rebuild would be). A rebuild, I am guesstimating would cost about 300k for whole structure, so have put 185k down for rest of house. The other company are insuring the whole structure @ 300k (i.e. one policy).

The difference in premium is not enough to definitely sway me in favour of one over the other - I would pay a little extra for the better cover. Thanks folks.

There are numerous things that make one policy better than another, extra's such as accidental damage cover, automatic all risks cover & the performance of a company when a claim is reported are all things to consider. IMO your biggest concern should be a proper rebuilding cost for your own house and proper cover for the tenants. Do both policies extend your liability to portect you against tenant claims? Do either cover loss of rent if their was a fire for e.g and the tenants had to move out? If you name both companies you might get some responses from posters who have had experience of both.


www.powerinsurances.ie

Hi Jimbobp - thanks for that. The two policies are with 123.ie (offering it through Zurich) and FBD. 123's is the two policy one. The one for the flat states that the property usage is 'let', whereas I think the cover for the flat under the FBD one falls under 'part letting your House to up to 2 Tenants/Lodgers who share the House with you'. I think I'll just up the cover a little on the main part of the house and go with the two policy one.

Go with the FBD. Assuming the €300,000 is an accurate figure you are safer with the one overall sum insured.

If you split it arbitrarily over the two portions you will be restricted to the figure allocated to each and if one or other is not adequate you could be penalised if the under-insured portion is the subject of a claim.