Get home insurance for as little as €10 per month

Home insurance is often used as an umbrella term for home buildings insurance and home contents insurance.

Buildings insurance is designed to cover the cost of rebuilding or repairing your home should it be damaged. It covers minor things such as leaks, all the way up to subsidence claims and major damage caused by a fire, flood or storm, for example.

Contents insurance covers your personal belongings, furniture, and appliances within your home should they be stolen or damaged. In general any items that aren’t fixed features in your home can be covered under contents insurance.

When someone is moving into a new home they will usually take out a home insurance policy that covers both buildings insurance and contents insurance. However it is possible to have one without the other depending on your circumstances.

Finding cheaper home insurance is easy with bonkers.ie. Simply enter some details about yourself and the property you’re looking to insure to receive a discounted quote.

You can choose buildings cover and contents cover, and you’ll also have the option to add specified items cover to your policy.

Once you find the policy that best suits your needs, you can apply online in minutes on our website.

Take a look at our guide for a more in-depth outline of how to use our home insurance service.

Strictly speaking home insurance is not mandatory and homeowners are under no legal requirement to have a policy in place.

In reality, most lenders will insist on applicants having at least a buildings insurance policy in place as part of any mortgage agreement.

While foregoing home insurance may be possible in certain cases it’s certainly not advisable and is often referred to as a false economy as the cost of rebuilding your home would far outweigh any savings made by not taking out insurance cover.

All homeowners should consider taking out a home insurance policy to protect their home and their valuables. And as mentioned above, most lenders will insist on you having at least a buildings insurance policy in place before they will allow you to draw down a mortgage.

If you live in an apartment you won’t need to take out a buildings insurance policy. This will be provided for under what’s known as a block policy owned by your apartment’s management company, which is covered by your management fees.

Apartment owners will still need to consider getting contents insurance to cover things such as appliances, gadgets, furniture and personal belongings within the home, which can be taken out as a separate policy.

By law your landlord must have a buildings insurance policy in place. However they aren’t under any obligation to provide any type of contents insurance to cover your personal belongings and other items within the tenancy. As such, it’s strongly recommended that you think about taking out contents insurance to protect your valuables.

Home insurance is a type of property insurance that’s designed to cover the cost of rebuilding or fixing your home should it be damaged. It commonly includes contents insurance to cover items in the home like furniture and appliances, but not always.

On the other hand, mortgage protection is a form of life insurance that’s designed to pay off the outstanding balance on your mortgage in the event of your death.

Home insurance can cost anywhere from €250 to €500 a year on average depending on the size of your home and the cost of any contents you want covered.

An important point to remember when taking out home insurance is not to over value your home. Don’t make the mistake of insuring it for its market value as opposed to its rebuild cost.

If your property is over insured you will pay a higher premium than necessary and if you need to make a claim you won’t see any extra benefit as you’re only covered for the cost of rebuilding and replacing any contents.

Have a read of these 10 ways to help reduce your home insurance costs.

There’s no requirement to take out a home insurance policy through your mortgage lender. This is the same for mortgage protection insurance.

You’re free to compare the market to find the best value cover for your particular circumstances.

This will depend on a number of factors such as the severity of the claim, your excess, and whether you’ve made any recent claims.

If you’re considering making a claim, no matter how big or small, get in contact with your insurer about how it might affect your premium.

Like car insurance, most insurers offer a no-claims discount on their home insurance policies, typically up to a period of five years.

Some insurance companies also offer an introductory discount for new customers. Discounts for buying online or over the phone are often available too.

Don’t be afraid to ask about all the possible discounts open to you when applying for cover.