Consumers warned over excess costs on insurance

HOUSEHOLDERS have been warned not to go overboard with excess on their home insurance policies after a survey showed significant price differences between eight well-known insurance companies.

The survey by the Financial Regulator found while quotations for popular policies varied by anything from €80 to €1,249 between the different companies, the variations became less clear when the excess that applied in each case was considered.

The excess — the amount the policyholder undertakes to pay themselves before making any claim — varied by five times with many of the standard home insurance policies, and by over 10 times in the case of a property that had both residential and business accommodation.