But to check if your home is correctly valued, you can get a rough estimate of the cost of rebuilding it in the 'Guide to House Rebuilding Insurance', which is available from the Society of Chartered Surveyors (www. scs. ie).

Contents should be insured for the amount it would cost to replace them if they were stolen or damaged, according to the Financial Regulator's new guide.

A useful exercise is to compile a list of everything you own and note the rough value of every item. That way, not only will you know what sum you should insure your contents for, but you will also have a list of what's missing in the event that your home is burgled.

Some insurers cover contents as a percentage of rebuilding costs, "but you should always check that you are happy with the level of contents cover", the regulator advises.

USEFUL WEBSITES www. askaboutmoney. com www. insure. ie www.123. ie www. scs. ie www. financialregulator. ie