High Demand: 4 in 10 homeowners currently in need of tradespeople
Less than 2 in 10 homeowners can be sure they have adequate home insurance in place
Some 68% of homeowners throughout the country want to renovate some aspect of their home over the next 12 months. However, issues around rising costs and the availability of tradespeople may preclude some people from doing so. New research from insurance provider Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC (Aviva) has found that, although Irish people have always had a love affair with their home – from wanting to get on the property ladder from an early age, to extending, renovating, and redecorating year after year, many homeowners do not accurately reflect the value of their home in their insurance. This could leave them in a difficult financial position if they need to make a claim on their home insurance policy.
Highlights from Aviva’s survey conducted by iReach Insights with 1,000 people nationwide, over 50% of whom are homeowners include:
- Women are more likely to take on renovation jobs, either big or small, themselves - 29% of women versus 24% of men. Those in the 45-54 age bracket are most likely to do the same – 32% versus the national average of 27%
- Cost and the lack of available tradespeople is likely to prevent 2 in 10 people carrying out their plans
- Rising costs of renovations is seen as a challenge by more people in Dublin (26%) than elsewhere in Ireland – for example, this was cited as an issue by just 7% of those in Connacht/ Ulster
- Almost 4 in 10 people never review the rebuilding costs of their home, 4 in 10 women don’t review compared to less than 3 in 10 men
- Also, nearly half of those in the 25–44-year age group (46%) say they never review their cover compared to just 31% of those aged over 55.
- Less than 2 in 10 can be sure their sum insured is an accurate reflection of their home’s rebuild cost having undergone a review in the last 12 months for insurance purposes
Commenting on the findings, Billy Shannon of Aviva said: “The results show that huge numbers of people want to renovate, and while some people will undertake renovations, both big and small, into their own hands - for others securing tradespeople for the works, combined with the soaring costs of labour and materials, mean that plans might have to be put on the back burner for the foreseeable future.
A stand-out finding from our survey, however, was how few people have actually reviewed their rebuild cost in the last year. Just 2 in 10 have done this, meaning that these are the only respondents who can be sure they are adequately covered if they need to make a claim on their policy. In addition, 38% of homeowners never review their rebuilding costs when paying for their home insurance.
Billy Shannon, Aviva
“People really need to give this some consideration. The soaring costs have a direct impact on home insurance because the sum insured on a homeowner’s policy is, or should be, based on one figure only – the cost to rebuild your home from the ground up. So, if you don’t reprice this every few years, there’s a good chance your policy is not an accurate reflection of the value of your home. Therefore, given current inflation rates, this means for that large cohort of people in Ireland who don’t review before they renew – they are underinsured.
“This is even more applicable to those who have undergone or are planning to undergo major renovations that will add to the value of their property. Large scale renovations in particular are going to add to rebuild costs and should therefore be reflected in the sum insured on the policy. We would always recommend that homeowners review their cover on an annual basis using the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland’s rebuilding costs calculator, concluded Billy Shannon".