Underinsured - Am I fully covered?

 

 

Underinsurance can occur when you have insured your car or home and its contents at a lower value than it’s worth. While this may not seem like a big deal and a cheaper policy looks like an easy way to save some money, it can lead to major losses in the event of theft or an accident. We’ve rounded up five common reasons why you could be underinsured and left vulnerable for your home, car, or health insurance. 

 

Whether you’re updating a bathroom or extending the kitchen, it’s important to review and if necessary, adjust your home insurance policy. Many property owners are left liable and underinsured after carrying out renovations as they fail to increase their cover. Some people have installed Log Cabins /Offices /Seomra’s in the garden of their homes. Make sure to notify your Insurer 

 

While this may seem straightforward, many people across Ireland fail to properly assess and read through their insurance policies and are left unclear about what is and isn’t covered. It can be tedious, but this simple step could potentially save you from losing out on thousands of euros in the event of an accident or claim on your home. At QuickQuotes , we can help you with this. 

Home owners often under or overestimate the value of their property based on the market value. The cost to replace or reinstate your home, known as the rebuild cost, is the value that is important from an insurance perspective and is based on the rebuild cost not the market sale cost. If for example you insured your home at half its true value, if a claim settlement is needed, you will lose 50% of the claim due to the Condition of Average. 

 

Expensive gadgets, furniture, jewellery, and appliances in your home can often be forgotten about when insuring a home. It’s important to gather a list of these items and declare them accurately to your insurer to prevent being underinsured in the future. 

For extra protection for your personal property, an All Risks cover policy can be a good investment, securing cover over certain household items for loss, damage, or theft when they are outside of the home - for example your jewellery. Get in touch with us to talk through all of your options for insuring valuable property. 

 

Relying on vehicle insurance from your employer can be risky as it may have some major exclusions. For example, many commercial vehicle policies exclude the value of the property in the insured vehicle. It is crucial that you check any commercial policies you have and make the necessary adjustments to prevent underinsurance. 

 

Getting back to normal life with work, travel, and rising cost of living expenses, it can be very easy to forget about your insurance policies. Simply looking over them and speaking to us to adjust them could potentially save you a small fortune in the future.