How Does Home Insurance Excess Work

Home insurance provides home owners with crucial peace of mind that they will be covered for the cost of repairs on their building and it’s contents should anything unforeseen occur. But a question we are commonly asked is what is excess on a home insurance policy? This article will help you to understand excess and how it will impact you if you need to make a claim.

1. What is an Excess?

An excess is an amount of money on your insurance policy that you will have to pay yourself when making certain claims. When you are taking out your policy, you can chose the level of excess- a higher excess will mean a cheaper premium, but you will have to pay more if you need to make a claim. A lower excess might cost more in the short term but could save you money if something goes wrong.

2. What is Standard Policy Excess?

The standard or compulsory excess which apply to most aspects of your home insurance cover including contents insurance will start from €200 and increase up to €350. This excess will apply to the majority of claims you make under your home insurance.

As mentioned, some insurance companies will allow you to increase the excess to reduce the cost of your home insurance. Typically, you can increase your standard excess by agreeing to an additional voluntary excess of €250, €500 or €1,000. It’s important to note that when you increase your standard excess you are also agreeing to increase the other excesses on your policy by the same amount.

3. Other Home Insurance Excesses

There are several additional excesses that apply to your home insurance:

• Subsidence, Ground Heave and Landslip Excess

This will typically start around €750 to €2,000 but in certain areas of the country can be extended to multiple of those figures or cover may even be excluded for certain risks

• Escape of Water Excess

One of the most common claims that occurs especially on older properties is escape of water. Different from an external flood, escape of water is when there is a leak in a pipe or water somehow escapes in your home and causes damage. The typical excess for escape of water claims will start from €500 and is generally not more than €1,000.

• Escape of Oil Excess

Oil leaking into your garden can do significant damage and can be a lengthy process to fix. The excess for escape of oil claims typically begins at €500 and is not usually more than €1000.

4. Reduced Excess for Certain Types of Claims

Not all additional excesses are higher than the standard excess, certain companies have reduced excesses in place for loss of personal money, starts from €50, along with the excess on personal possessions which typically begins at €100

If you are in need of home insurance, you can easily get a home quote online or you can call our expert home insurance team on 01 282 7108.