Householders can save between €80 and €230 on their annual home insurance costs, according to a new survey by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
However, the value and accuracy of the financial regulator's surveys were questioned yesterday by the Irish Brokers Association (IBA), which said consumers could achieve even greater savings by using a broker.
The IBA said its members could better the quotes obtained by the financial regulator in four out of the six policy profiles in the survey and match the best quote in the other two profiles.
In the case of a four-bedroom semi-detached house in Limerick city, the financial regulator's survey found that the lowest quote was €331. The IBA said its members could quote as low as €265 for the same policy, saving such a homeowner a further €66 on their annual premium.
Stuart Reid, director of general services at the IBA, said its members sought quotes from all insurers in order to obtain the most competitive one, and asked the regulator to rethink its approach to the cost surveys.
"The financial regulator is, in essence, failing to follow its own advice on shopping around," Mr Reid said. "We once again call on the regulator to widen its survey parameters so that the focus of its surveys is not solely the main providers in the market, but includes intermediaries who can achieve a policy that best suits the consumer's requirements while ensuring they receive the best quote achievable."
In response, the financial regulator said it strongly reiterated the accuracy of its surveys and said all quotes had been confirmed with the providers before publication. A spokeswoman said the survey did not ignore the role of brokers and showed quotes from brokers when they were lower than those that could be obtained directly from insurers.
In the case of the semi-detached Limerick house, the lowest quote it obtained was sourced through a broker selling a Royal & SunAlliance policy.
Two insurers surveyed, Royal & Sun Alliance and Prestige Underwriting, only sell their policies through intermediaries.
"From time to time, it is possible for consumers to get lower quotes from brokers. We would very much recommend that people use both companies and brokers and go online when they are shopping around," the regulator's spokeswoman said.
FBD, which sells directly and through brokers, was the cheapest insurer for five of the six policies in the survey.
The largest saving was for a semi-detached timber frame house in Offaly, where the quotes ranged from €264 from FBD to €495 from Axa. The IBA said its members could quote €235.
