House Insurance Italy

"House Insurance in Italy made simple"

House Insurance in Italy is often forgotten but before you buy it is well worth deciding how you intend to insure your new holiday home. We provide some top insurance tips to help you to make the right decision.

Pizzo, in Calabria, is at high earthquake risk. Scroll further down the page for more.

Home owners insurance is not obligatory.... unless you have a mortgage; in which case the lender will require you to have insurance for the property.

In terms of insuring a house and getting a mortgage bond it is often easier to do this in your home country, particularly if the property is to be used as a holiday home. In the UK there are a number of reputable insurance firms offering both house insurance and mortgages.

The advantages of insuring in this way are numerous but two of the most important are:

1) House Insurance claims are often settled quicker through UK, Northern European and US insurance companies.

2) It is a lot simpler to have insurance policies in your own language and the handling of claims is invariably easier.

It is important to note that you should use one insurance company for both household content insurance and building/house insurance in order to avoid conflicts between the insurance companies in the case of a claim.

Build Insurance is the Most Important

Try to make sure that storm damage and natural disasters are covered and that the amount you are insured for covers the rebuilding cost.

Earthquakes are supposed to be covered by the Italian government - but you might wait twenty years for your house to be rebuilt.

My advice, should you be in an earthquake risk area, would be to have this included in your policy. You probably won't obtain 100% replacement value cover, but, you will usually be paid out fairly quickly and be able to get on with your life.

A friend of mine, whose house was pretty much destroyed in the Abruzzo earthquake, rebuilt within a year thanks to the fact that they had a policy with a UK company covering earthquake damage. Others I know of from Le Marche, who were uninsured, are still waiting many years later for government help and have lost everything.

If you own an apartment then building insurance is normally included in your service fee but third party insurance is advisable.  

Contents Insurance

Contents Insurance is always a good idea but not essential and the insurance company will insist on many conditions like burglar bars etc being met. Valuables are virtually never covered and so many conditions and exclusions exist that I have never bothered to cover our valuables.

So many Italian insurance companies have house insurance policies that seem designed to find loopholes to get out of paying no matter what and understanding the insurance small print in English is bad enough let alone in Italian.

The result is that, even if you pay a slightly higher premium to a company in your own country, it is likely to be a better option.

Anyway, it is not a forgone conclusion that house insurance premiums will be higher in your own country. Italy has very high insurance premiums generally and insurance companies in the UK, Holland (and many other countries too) often have lower insurance premiums than those in Italy. They also offer far better service in my experience.

Many UK companies are specialized in holiday home insurance and for some reason Italian household insurance companies often seem reluctant to pay out on claims involving holiday homes.

Have A Question or Story About This Topic?

Do you have a question or a story to share about this? Share it!

Enter Your Title

Tell Us Your Story! [ ? ]

Close Help Entering your story is easy to do. Just type!... Your story will appear on a Web page exactly the way you enter it here. You can wrap a word in square brackets to make it appear bold. For example [my story] would show as my story on the Web page containing your story. TIP: Since most people scan Web pages, include your best thoughts in your first paragraph.

Upload 1-4 Pictures or Graphics (optional)[ ? ]

Close Help Do you have some pictures or graphics to add? Great! Click the button and find the first one on your computer. Select it and click on the button to choose it. Then click on the link if you want to upload up to 3 more images.

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional)  

Click here to upload more images (optional)

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional)  

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional)  

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional)  

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(e.g., City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

• Check box to agree to these  submission guidelines.
• I am at least 16 years of age.
• I understand and accept the privacy policy.
• I understand that you will display my submission on your website.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Mr John Elms Not rated yet
Can you help please? Do you know a U K insurer who will give cover for a permanent home in Italy. We moved from the UK recently to live in Italy. …

Cancelling home insurance in Italy Not rated yet
Can you also tell us how to cancel home insurance in Italy? I have a home insurance policy with an Italian insurance company but now that I'm in the …

Can You Recommend a US Company to Insure our House in Italy Not rated yet
The previous owners were Irish and they insured thru a UK Company. That company will not insure non WU residents. Can you recommend a US company that …

Building cover Not rated yet
Ciao Maria & Andrew, Thanks for updating the site on building cover. This advice is 100% spot on, and although it may alarm some, its better to …

Car Insurance in Italy Not rated yet
I have read through you article on home insurance with interest and have bookmarked it for future reference. I have recently moved to Italy and this article …

Click here to write your own.