You can switch insurers after making a claim. Most policyholders can. The renewal premium offered by your current insurer is rarely the cheapest you will find, and a recent claim does not lock you into a relationship. Here is how to do it cleanly without invalidating cover or setting up problems later.
Confirm the timing of the switch
Switch at renewal, not mid-policy. Mid-policy cancellations usually trigger a short-term cancellation charge that wipes out any saving from switching. Wait for the renewal date, take quotes 30 days before, and let the existing policy lapse on its end date.
Two policies cannot run simultaneously on the same property; the new insurer will ask whether you have other cover and the old insurer will refund any unused premium pro-rata if you cancel after the new policy starts.
Disclose every claim accurately
Every quote application asks for claims in the past three or five years. Every one of those claims must be disclosed, including:
- The cause of the loss
- The settlement amount
- The date of the loss and date of settlement
- Whether the claim is fully closed or still open
Non-disclosure or misrepresentation voids the new policy. If a claim arises later and the original disclosure was incomplete, the insurer can refuse to pay.
Get multiple quotes
The premium for the same risk profile varies dramatically between Irish insurers. A 30% gap between cheapest and most expensive is common; on non-standard risks the gap is sometimes much wider. Three competing quotes is the floor; five is better.
Brokers can pull quotes from multiple insurers in one conversation. Direct insurers (those who sell only their own product) require separate applications each time.
Read the new policy carefully before switching
Cheaper is not always better. Compare:
- Sums insured (must match or exceed the rebuild and contents replacement cost)
- Excesses, both compulsory and voluntary
- Sub-limits on contents categories
- Trace and access cover limit
- Subsidence cover (some new policies exclude this on properties with prior claims)
- Accidental damage extension
A 200 euro saving on the premium is wiped out the first time you make a claim if the cover is inferior.
What if every insurer is quoting high or refusing
If standard insurers are pricing the property out of range or declining cover after a recent claim, two routes remain:
- Specialist non-standard brokers. Several Irish brokers specialise in non-standard residential and commercial risks; they have access to insurers who price these risks rather than refuse them.
- Direct discussion with the original insurer. Sometimes the renewal quote is high because of automatic claim-loading; a direct conversation with their underwriting team can produce a better number than the auto-renewal.
Beyond that, if your claim was rejected or the settlement was disputed, that record on the property can be removed where the rejection was overturned. We sometimes recover the renewal market by overturning the original claim outcome first.
When to call a loss assessor
If you are switching specifically because the original claim was poorly handled or under-settled, the loss assessor question is whether to re-open the original claim before you switch. Once a settlement is signed, the record stands. Before you sign, the figure is still negotiable.
The 30-day rule
Take quotes 30 days before renewal. Disclose everything. Read the new schedule. Most policyholders can switch insurers after a claim and most save money doing so. If you cannot find cover at all, talk to us; sometimes the route back is via the original claim, not the renewal market.
Written by the team at N.J. Carroll & Associates, insurance loss assessors and quantity surveyors, established 1988.
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