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Underinsurance is a critical issue

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By John Healy of Healy Insurances

Home owners may have received a letter recently from their insurer regarding 'underinsurance'.

The Central Bank of Ireland has instructed insurers to contact all home owners to highlight this critical issue.

As an insurance broker we have been highlighting this matter for a number of years to our customers as the cost of building has been increasing steadily since before the pandemic.

Last year Zurich Insurance carried out a survey of over 1,000 Irish consumers.

Its key findings were as follows:

According to the research, 51% of homeowners surveyed are correctly insuring their properties, while over 1/3 of homeowners (36%) are incorrectly insuring their properties by basing their calculation on their homes’ market value as opposed to its rebuild cost. An insurance valuation refers to the ‘building sums insured’, which is the full cost of rebuilding a property including the cost of site clearance and architects’ fees. This should not be confused with the market value.

A further 36% of people who took out a home insurance policy did not take any action to calculate their buildings sums insured, i.e., the rebuild cost of their home. However, one in four people used the rebuild cost calculator operated by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) or another reputable operator, while 15% of homeowners organised a bespoke rebuild valuation through a building’s surveyor.

Meanwhile, over a quarter (26%) of homeowners have reviewed the cost involved in rebuilding their home within the last year, 20% reviewed two years ago while a similar figure (19%) have left it three years or more. Almost 1/5 of homeowners (18%) have never reviewed the cost to rebuild their home or can’t remember doing so. High and rising inflationary costs across the construction sector mean homeowners should be reviewing their rebuild cost annually when renewing their policy to avoid the possibility of homes being underinsured.

I would recommend that you review your reinstatement sum insured sooner rather than later and continue to review during the year. In order to get a definitive individual reinstatement value on your house you should contact an independent qualified surveyor.

The most recent rebuilding cost report and a rebuilding calculator can be found at www.scsi.ie.

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Massive Park Road housing development given green light

A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road. The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near […]

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A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road.

The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near An Post’s sorting office, will include a variety of properties from five-bed houses to single apartments, along with a crèche and over 500 car spaces and over 300 bike spaces.

The development has been welcomed by local councillor Martin Grady.

“Killarney has a massive housing shortage so this is very positive. It will retain young families in the area, stimulating economic growth,” he said. “After 17 years of different planning applications it’s finally coming to fruition.”

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Ballydribeen residents living in fear due to anti-social behaviour

Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate. Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits […]

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Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate.

Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits in the last week.

Local councillor Martin Grady told the Killarney Advertiser that residents are “living in fear” as a result of very serious incidents in the last week alone.

One house in the estate was badly damaged when fire crackers were placed inside a letter box.

Another house had its windows smashed in over the weekend.

“It’s a major problem,” added Grady after meeting residents there earlier this week.

One of the most serious incidents occurred on Tuesday night.

A passing motorists had rocks thrown at his car while driving along the bypass whch is adjacent to the estate.
Taking to social media, local primary-school teacher Pádraig O’Sullivan posted:

“Travelling home tonight, at 11.05pm on the Killarney side of the bypass our car was hit by a rock – not a pebble – from the Ballydribben side , which hit the passenger door.

“It was centimetres away from hitting the window where my father, who is visually impaired, was sitting.

“This could have caused catastrophic permanent injury to him.

“The Killarney Garda were on the scene within three minutes.

“They can’t be patrolling the bypass all night.

“It comes down to parenting. You should know where your children are at this hour and be able to teach them what’s funny and what ruin a person’s life or cause a fatal crash.“

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