Finding good quality, value for money home insurance in Northern Ireland is often a tedious and quite difficult process. Many UK based companies will not insure in Northern Ireland at all, and if they do the premiums are generally very high.
Insurers base their quote on perceived risk. This is usually decided on historical events both natural and man-made that may impact on your chances of claiming against the policy in future. Unfortunately for residents of this country, the violent history of Northern Ireland often comes into consideration and can turn a policy on its head. The cost can blow out and that’s if the insurer even offers products to your area.
Even though the main conflicts were some years ago now, they can still affect premiums. They also tend to be based on your suburb or area – those who are living in areas that saw a lot of crime and fighting when these conflicts took place can still find themselves on the high level risk list – even if it is now a calm and affluent area.
This is slowly starting to change, as more multi-national companies decide to come into the Northern Ireland home insurance market. It is slow going though – deciding to offer insurance to someone who may be at a higher risk isn’t a good business decision for the company and this is why they charge those with perceived risks more money every year.
If you want to reduce the costs of your home insurance premiums, then the best thing you can do is look at all the options. Compare costs and factor in what is covered for that cost – the cheapest may not always be the best value policy available.
One major way to reduce the cost is to safeguard your home as much as you can. This includes installing security features such as small CCTV units, alarm systems that are preferably back to base or automatic response and making sure your locks are the most secure available. These will all help to get you a policy that is more appropriate cost-wise than may otherwise be the case. In addition to this, you should also consider whether you want new replacement cover in your policy because if you don’t then it is unnecessary to purchase cover that includes this, which will help to reduce premium costs.
Good home insurance in Northern Ireland is definitely possible but you will have to look for it very carefully, with careful planning and an understanding of what’s on offer from each company.