Insurance products

RECESSION SURVIVAL KIT:THE EASIEST way to cut costs without causing yourself much pain is to be canny with insurance, be it life, car, house or health.

A survey published by the National Consumer Agency in December found the difference between the highest and lowest quotes for a male driver with a full licence was €1,174. Excesses quoted ranged from €200 to €600 for fully comprehensive cover and between no excess and €450 for third party fire and theft.

While health insurance premiums are climbing there are ways to fight back.

All health insurance providers have discounted plans aimed at businesses. They are cheaper than private ones but available to everyone. They are hard to find – because the companies don't want you to find them – but the Health Insurance Authority hia.iecan help you out. Alternatively, contact your insurer directly and ask for an equivalent company plan to what you already have.

Many consumers pay too much for home insurance because they have not reviewed their level of cover. It might have cost more than €300,000 to rebuild a three-bedroom house in Dublin three years ago but now costs less than €240,000.

The responsibility of setting the sum insured at the right level rests with you so if you have not reviewed the cost for some years, you’re probably paying too much.

With life insurance you should forensically examine policies to assess if they offer what you need and to see if you can cut elements out without sacrificing too much.

Simply shopping around can lead to real savings. Here’s a true story.

A colleague bought a house several years back and took out a mortgage protection policy with the bank that gave her the mortgage. The policy was worth €300,000 and cost herself and her husband – both non-smokers in their early 30s – €109 a month.

After two years of paying out she decided to see if she could get it cheaper and minutes later an online service quoted her €639 per annum – she was paying €1,308 – and offered her a 50 per cent discount in year one. In year one, she knocked €1,000 off the cost.

Over the lifetime of her mortgage, the savings will amount to €13,700. As both policies simply covered the mortgage on the house, they were identical.