CONSUMERS CAN save nearly €400 a year by shopping around for home insurance, according to the latest cost comparison from the National Consumer Agency.

The Home Insurance Cost Comparison survey reviewed a range of property types throughout the State and found that across all the profiles surveyed, consumers could make average savings of €382 by shopping around.

The survey also reviewed the level of “excess” attached to policies and the restrictions on contents insurance.

It found that the excess on policies ranged from €125 to €500 and that a lower quote did not mean higher excesses.

In six of the seven profiles, the lowest quotes were for policies that did not have the highest excesses in the survey.

Seven profiles for homes in Cork, Monaghan, Galway, Dublin and Longford were surveyed across nine insurance providers – Aviva, Allianz, Axa, Chartis, FBD, Getcover, Liberty, Royal Sun Alliance and Zurich.

The biggest difference in quotes was for a three-bedroom house in Co Cork with a rebuild value of €130,000 and contents valued at €40,000.

The highest quote (€1,147 from Chartisdirect) was €864 or over four times more expensive than the lowest quote (€283 from FBD).

Ann Fitzgerald, chief executive of the NCA, urged consumers to take advantage of competition in the market and savings available by getting quotes online, by phone or through a broker. She also advised consumers to compare excesses and restrictions on contents cover as well as price when shopping around.

“Ensure that the value provided for contents is enough to replace contents with new items of the same quality and type.

“In addition, consumers need to examine the amount of cover given for specific items or categories of contents under the contents cover.”