24/08/2026
🏠 Is your home insurance keeping up with your home?
Homes across Ireland and Northern Ireland are changing.
Solar PV systems, battery storage, EV chargers, heat pumps and garden rooms are no longer unusual additions. They are increasingly becoming integrated parts of our homes.
And that creates an important insurance question:
Has your insurance cover kept pace with the changes you've made to your property?
Modern homes can now include:
• Solar PV panels, inverters and associated equipment
• Lithium-ion home battery storage
• EV charging points
• Air-source and ground-source heat pumps
• Garden rooms, home offices and modular pods
• Attic conversions and extensions
• MVHR and other ventilation systems
• Smart-home, security and automation systems
• Electric gates and access systems
• High-value sheds, workshops and other permanent structures
These additions don't necessarily operate in isolation.
Solar PV, batteries, EV chargers and heat pumps can interact with the property's electrical installation, structure and other services. If something goes wrong, the resulting damage may extend well beyond the original component.
There is another consideration too: reinstatement cost.
If you have spent €20,000, €30,000 or considerably more upgrading your property, when did you last review your buildings sum insured?
A home that has had solar PV, battery storage, an EV charger, a heat pump, an attic conversion and a substantial garden room added over several years may be a very different property from the one originally insured.
After making significant improvements, homeowners should consider:
✓ Does my policy adequately cover the new addition or system?
✓ Does my insurer need to be told about the alteration?
✓ Has it increased the overall reinstatement cost of my property?
✓ Are there specific policy limits, conditions or exclusions I should know about?
✓ Have I retained invoices, specifications and certification for the installation?
As buildings become more technically complex, insurance cover and reinstatement values need to evolve with them.
Your home may have changed considerably. Has your insurance changed with it?
Claims 365
Independent Loss Assessors
Derry & Donegal