What does home insurance cover in Ireland?

In this guide we explain what home insurance typically covers, what it may exclude, the extras are worth knowing about, and how to choose a policy that matches your needs in 2026.

What’s covered:

• What is home insurance?

• What does home insurance cover?

• What does home insurance not usually cover?

• Optional extras you can add to your home insurance policy

• What affects the cost of home insurance in Ireland?

• How much home insurance cover do you need?

• Which type of home insurance cover is right for me?

• 5 tips to help you choose the right home insurance policy

What is home insurance?

Home insurance is a policy that protects your home, your belongings, or both against insured risks such as fire, water damage and theft. In Ireland, the two core components are buildings insurance and contents insurance, and many people buy them together under one policy.

• Buildings insurance covers the physical structure of a property and its permanent fixtures, including the walls, roof, floors, windows, fitted kitchens, and bathrooms.

• Contents insurance covers belongings kept inside the home such as furniture, clothes, electronics and other household items.

Is home insurance required in Ireland?

No, home insurance is not required by law in Ireland, but if you have a mortgage, most lenders will insist that buildings insurance is in place to protect the structure of your home if it becomes damaged or needs to be rebuilt.

If you own your home outright you don’t have to take out insurance, but without it you would usually have to pay repair or rebuild costs yourself.

If you rent, you typically don't need buildings cover, but should consider contents insurance to protect your own belongings.

What does home insurance cover?

Home insurance protects your property and belongings if they’re damaged, lost or stolen following an insured event.

What’s covered will depend on your insurer and policy, but it usually includes:

• Damage to your property caused by fire, lightning strikes, storms, flooding and escape of water or oil

• Subsidence (the ground moving underneath the building)

• Theft, attempted theft, vandalism and malicious damage

• Alternative accommodation if your home is damaged by an insured event and cannot be lived in

Let's take a look at what's covered by the two core components of home insurance: buildings insurance and contents insurance.

Buildings insurance

Buildings insurance covers the structure of your property (including walls, floors, roof, and brickwork) against damage, loss, or theft. It also includes permanent fixtures and fittings inside your home, such as:

• Fitted kitchens / kitchen units

• Bathrooms & sanitary fixtures

• Built-in wardrobes

• Garages, sheds & outbuildings

• Conservatories

• Other structures e.g. boundary walls, patios, footpaths, drives, terraces, fences, gates and decking

Also read: What does buildings insurance cover?

Contents insurance

Contents insurance covers the personal items in your home against risks like theft, fire, flooding, and vandalism. Depending on your policy, this could include:

• Household items such as furniture, carpets, curtains, and soft furnishings.

• Electronics and gadgets like TVs, laptops and mobile phones

• Kitchen appliances like dishwashers, microwaves

• Personal belongings (clothing, accessories, and general personal possessions.)

• Valuables like jewellery, watches, and artwork (often subject to value limits or needing declaration).

• Garden furniture and items in sheds/garages

Also read: How to calculate contents value for insurance

What does home insurance not usually cover?

Home insurance doesn't protect you from every circumstance. While they vary by insurer, common exclusions include:

• General wear and tear, gradual deterioration and long-term damage (e.g. rusty pipes, rotting window frames)

• Damage caused by neglect or poor maintenance (e.g. blocked gutters leading to damp or failing to replace missing roof tiles)

• Some flood or subsidence claims in areas where the risk is already known to be high.

• Theft or loss when the home has been left unoccupied beyond the period allowed by the policy.

• Poor or faulty workmanship and/or materials

• High-value items above the single-item limit (unless they are listed separately)

• Storm damage to fences and gates

• Business use, unless specifically included in your policy

• Claims below the excess on your policy

Optional extras you can add to your home insurance policy

Optional extras help you widen protection beyond standard buildings and contents cover. The exact names differ by insurer, but these are some of the most common add-ons in Ireland:

• Accidental damage: covers unintentional damage to your home. It can be applied separately to your buildings, your contents, or both.

• Personal possessions / All-risks cover: provides wider protection for valuable possessions against loss, theft or accidental damage both inside and outside the home, often including limited cover abroad.

• Home emergency cover: Provides urgent assistance for unexpected emergencies such as burst pipes or a power failure

• Liability cover: covers legal fees for claims relating to your property

• Personal accident cover: provides a lump-sum financial payout if you or your family members suffer a severe injury, permanent disability, or accidental death within the home

• Valuable items cover: Offers enhanced protection for high-value belongings that exceed standard policy limits, typically requiring items like jewellery or artwork to be listed separately for full cover.

• Fire brigade charges: covers local authority costs for fire service call-outs, so you don’t face an unexpected bill after an emergency.

What affects the cost of home insurance in Ireland?

Home insurance cost is shaped by your property, the cover you select and how likely the insurer believes you are to make a claim.

Common factors include:

• Rebuild cost: Buildings insurance should reflect the cost of rebuilding your home, rather than its market value.

• Location: Where you live influences risks such as theft, flooding, storm damage or subsidence.

• Contents value: The higher the cost of replacing your belongings, the more contents cover you may need.

• Level of cover: Optional add-ons like accidental damage, home emergency or legal expenses typically increase the premium.

• Property age and condition: Older homes or those in poor repair can be more expensive to insure.

• Security measures: Features like alarms, secure locks and other protections can help lower perceived risk.

• Excess: Choosing a higher excess can reduce your premium, but means paying more out of pocket if you make a claim.

How much home insurance cover do you need?

To determine how much home insurance cover you need, you'll need to determine buildings and contents cover levels separately.

Buildings cover

You should insure your home for its full rebuild cost, which is known as the sum insured. Crucially, this is not the same as the price you paid or its market value. In fact, the rebuild cost is often less than the market value.

Underestimating the rebuild cost could leave you underinsured and covering part of the expense yourself in the event of a claim, so it's important to get the figure right.

You can find a full breakdown on calculating the rebuild cost here.

How to calculate the rebuild cost of your home:

• Get a professional assessment: A chartered surveyor can provide the most accurate rebuild estimate.

• Use a rebuild calculator: Tools like the SCSI rebuild calculator give a helpful starting point.

• Include extra costs: Factor in fees such as architects, legal costs and debris removal, as these can add significantly to the total.

Contents cover

Contents insurance should be based on the total value of your possessions and what it would cost to replace them. A good way to estimate this is by listing all the items you would take with you if you moved.

You can find our full guide on calculating contents value for insurance here.

Which type of home insurance cover is right for me?

Choosing the right home insurance depends on how you use your property. The cover you need will differ depending on whether you own, rent or let out your home.

Homeowners with a mortgage
If you have a mortgage, your lender will usually require buildings insurance to protect the structure of the property. Alongside this, contents insurance can help cover your furniture, appliances, clothes and valuables against damage, loss or theft.

Homeowners without a mortgage
While buildings insurance isn’t required if you own your home outright, it can protect you from the high cost of major repairs or rebuilding after serious damage. Contents insurance is also worth considering to cover the belongings inside your home.

Apartment owners
Buildings insurance may already be arranged through your management company, but the level of cover can vary. It’s important to check what the block policy includes and arrange contents insurance separately to protect your own possessions.

Tenants or renters
Your landlord will usually be responsible for insuring the building, so you won’t need buildings cover yourself. However, contents insurance can protect your personal belongings if they are damaged, lost or stolen.

Landlords
If you rent out a property, standard home insurance may not provide the right level of protection. Landlord insurance is designed for rental properties and can cover property damage, landlord-owned contents, liability and potential loss of rent.

Holiday home owners
Holiday homes often require specialist insurance, especially if they are left unoccupied for long periods or rented out on a short-term basis. This type of cover reflects the increased risks associated with seasonal or intermittent use.

5 tips to help you choose the right home insurance policy

Choosing the right policy means matching the cover to your actual home, contents and risks rather than buying the cheapest quote. The best value policy is the one that would leave you properly protected if you had to make a claim.

1. Compare more than the price

Compare cover, limits, exclusions and optional extras as well as premium. A lower price can still be poor value if the cover is narrow or the excess is high.

2. Check policy limits

Check the buildings sum insured, contents sum insured and any single-item limits for valuables. If these are too low, you may be underinsured and receive less than you expect in a claim.

3. Check exclusions

Always read the main exclusions before buying, especially around flood, subsidence, unoccupancy, wear and tear, contractors’ work and valuables outside the home.

4. Choose the right excess

A higher excess may reduce your premium, but it also means paying more yourself when you claim. Choose an amount you could realistically afford.

5. Ask about discounts

Insurers may offer discounts for alarms, smoke detectors, no recent claims, another policy with the same provider, or other risk-reducing factors.

This is a marketing article from Howden Insurance. The information in this guide is accurate at time of publication. This content is provided for general information only and does not constitute financial or insurance advice.