Guide to Holiday Home Insurance Ireland
Introduction -
Owing a Holiday Home or second home in Ireland is a fairly straight forward
process and there are no restrictions on foreign ownership. Ireland is a
beautiful country, located on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, this " Emerald
Isle " characterised by lively cities and endless unspoilt countryside is
officially the best place in the world to live. Buying property in Ireland is
not cheap, although many statistics point to the fact that there is currently a
surplice of property available, negotiations can help to secure a better deal
but this is practically non existing on" new builds" s where the price offered
is usually what you pay. Ireland has always been seen as a wonderful place to
take a relaxing holiday or vacation and there is always plenty of accommodation
to choose from, especially now as more overseas investors are purchasing
property for retirement purposes but intending to rent them out in the interim
years.
Why Ireland? - Ireland is certainly a property hot spot, it has an economy
in good shape and the environment is widely accepted to superior to most of its
European neighbours. Ireland has recently seen a large upsurge in the purchase
of Holiday Homes, mainly by investors speculating that prices will increase as
it is being widely broadcast that Ireland is the " Best Country in the world"
and an ideal place to live. Ireland is particularly proving very popular with
purchasers from the United States of America, who see the country as a dream
destination for retirement, already in excess of 55,000 Americans have purchased
property in the country.
Insuring a Holiday Home in Ireland - Where ever you decide to purchase, it
is essential that you obtain insurance for holiday home in Ireland. A
policy should include all the usual perils you would expect from a standard home
insurance policy and also be extended to include Property owners/ Public
Liability cover. When calculating you sum insured for a quotation, don't forget
that the sum insured on which your quote should be based, is the rebuilding cost
of the property, not the valuation, often these can be vastly different and as a
consequence so will be your premium. If you wish to include contents insurance
as well as buildings, you must insure for the full value of all items, that is
to say, the price if you have just purchased them as new. If you have a swimming
pool at your holiday home, make sure that any policy you purchase will include
cover for this, it is not always automatically given. As well as a standard set
of insurance perils, many people overlook to ask for protection against loss of
rental income. This cover is vital if you have purchased your holiday home and
are relying on renting it to guests to help support the mortgage. Loss of rent
cover under a holiday home insurance policy will cover you in the event of an a
claim occurring following an insured event at the property. It will not cover
you against loss of rent that you fail to collect from any renter.
Letting Property in Ireland - There have been some recent changes to the
laws in Ireland that govern
buy to let properties, but Holiday Homes are
exempt. When purchasing your holiday home in Ireland expect to the fees to be
approximately 5% of the purchase price, buying a new property will be cheaper as
there is no stamp duty to pay on new homes. You will need to budget for
Once you have located a property (and extensive
research has to be done on this front, unlike in many other countries planning
applications by overseas investors or purchasers to extend property are often
complicated, you may find that you will be unable to extend your dream home as
you wish), the process of purchase is quite straight forward, a solicitor should
be appointed as early in to the process as possible and you can expect to pay
around 1% of the purchase price + VAT at 20% Stamp duty is one of the major bug
bears in Ireland and there are three scales applicable to property purchase,
these effect, first time buyers, owner occupies ( not first time buyers) and
investors who are buying a home for letting purposes. Stamp Duty is 9% and in
recent years has been subject to annual change.
Holiday Hotspots - Although the cities are difficult to match for nightlife,
it is the countries rural scenic areas where the bulk of properties are being
purchased. Areas such as west Cork and Kerry are very popular and the south
coast of the island is being dubbed, the " Irish Riveria" This areas has been
attracting a steady flow of British and American purchasers for quite a while.
The climate is mild, warmed by the gulf stream and the scenery is unbelievable.
Properties on offer vary from starter rental homes. these are often chalets
constructed of wood, through to the more traditional Irish country cottage. The
later are more expensive but of course have the greatest potential for rental
income. Obtaining the right property is essential for obtaining an income,
whilst the above mentioned areas and the major cities can be very expensive, it
is still possible to obtain relatively cheap property in Ireland in several of
the inland areas. The general rule is, the further inland, the cheaper the
property becomes.
Ireland has in recent years issued a town renewal scheme which encourages people
by means of Tax breaks to invest in the construction of new buildings or
properties that need refurbishment. There are as many as 100 towns included in
the scheme. Although the tax breaks are mainly designed for owner occupier
purchasers, landlords can obtain tax breaks against other Irish Rental Income of
100% on the cost of refurbishment over 10 years. These tax incentives can be
passed on to the buyer.
So if you are seeking an holiday home insurance quote for a property in cities
like Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Dundalk or Kilkenny why not
see if we can help? In addition, Assetsure provide overseas property
insurance and holiday home insurance for other countries including Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Egypt, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South
Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom (UK) and Venezuela.
