How to Compare House Insurance in Ireland
Comparing house insurance only works when every quote describes the same thing: the same rebuild...
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What landlord insurance covers
Buildings. The structure and, in the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (CCPC) words, anything you cannot take away with you if you move house: fitted kitchen and bathrooms, garage and sheds, walls and fences. The CCPC explains that, on a home policy, buildings cover usually includes fire, storm, flood and subsidence with restrictions, and damage by vehicles or animals, and usually excludes flood or subsidence where the property is in an area where either is likely, storms affecting gates and fences, damage by a tradesperson without their own public liability insurance, and any claim below the excess. A mortgage lender may require buildings cover for the rebuild cost. Ask whether the landlord policy follows the same lines.
Contents you provide. Furniture, appliances and fittings you supply to the tenant, if the policy covers them; ask. Tenants should consider insuring their own contents; those belongings are the tenant’s to insure.
Liability. For home insurance, the CCPC notes that most policies include liability cover up to set limits for costs you are legally liable for if someone is injured at the property. Ask whether the landlord policy includes property owner’s liability and at what limit.
Loss of rent. Loss of rent cover pays rent you lose while the property cannot be lived in after an insured event. Ask whether the policy includes it and on what terms.
Rebuild cost, underinsurance and what to have ready
Rebuild cost, not market value. Underinsurance means the property is insured for less than it would cost to rebuild; the CCPC notes a claim may then not be fully covered, and rising building costs are the main cause. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) House Rebuild Calculator gives a minimum estimate for estate-type houses; for a one-off or period house, get a chartered surveyor’s estimate. Check the figure every renewal. The CCPC notes that many insurers use indexation to raise the sum insured each year in line with inflation. For an apartment the SCSI calculator does not apply; the CCPC notes that where you pay management fees, buildings insurance is usually covered within them.
What to have ready. The rebuild cost, a value for any contents you provide, and your claims history. The Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 requires answers that are honest and given with reasonable care; the CCPC’s warning is that undisclosed details can lead to the policy being cancelled and make later cover hard to find.
Insuring the home you live in instead? See house insurance in Ireland. To talk it through, call 0818 92 92 42, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.
Sources: CCPC – home insurance; SCSI – House Rebuild Calculator; Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019. Last reviewed September 2026.
