How Is The Search For A House Insurance Broker Different When You’re An Expat?

by Liz Seyi Digital marketing manager

At a time in your life when so much else will be new and unfamiliar to you, the last thing you will want to do is end up doing business with a cowboy House Insurance Broker that doesn’t provide the protection or service you need for your new home overseas.

This is why it is vital to bear several key factors in mind when you are seeking out a home insurance broker as an expatriate in a part of the world such as Spain, Portugal or Gibraltar.

The language barrier

This may be the biggest obstacle to picking a house insurance broker that meets all of your needs in your new country. After all, you only need to misunderstand one or two terms to potentially find yourself overlooking an aspect of your cover that’s really quite important.

We would therefore advise you, if at all possible, to partner with a house insurance broker – such as Ibex Insurance Services – that spells out its policies in plain English, while also having an English-speaking team to clarify any matters with you that are still causing uncertainty.

Certain country-specific exclusions or conditions may apply

Even when you’re working with a house insurance broker like Ibex that models its policies on those you might expect to purchase in the UK, the typical home insurance plan in your new country may still markedly differ from what you’re used to in certain ways.

Every home insurance policy in Spain, for example, includes what is known as the Consorcio, which is a contribution to a national relief fund for those affected by natural disasters. This is the fund that handles any claims when a natural disaster, such as widespread flooding, occurs.

Again, we can advise you on this and similar aspects of any expatriate house insurance policy that you purchase with us here at Ibex, so that you know both what you are paying for, and why.

It’s even more important to choose a trustworthy name

While you should never go with a disreputable house insurance broker even as a UK resident, if you are moving to somewhere like Portugal or Spain, it becomes even more crucial to only select a broker that you feel you can place the utmost faith in. This almost certainly means choosing a broker that has been active in the expatriate insurance market for many years.

This is precisely what Ibex can give you. We were founded in 2000, and are widely renowned for our work for expats in need of a well-tailored insurance policy for their home, car or all manner of other aspects of their life abroad.

With a full service in the English language right through to the payment of a claim, as well as offices that you can visit throughout the Iberian Peninsula, we’re confident that we’re the house insurance broker you should choose when you are starting a new life in Spain, Portugal or Gibraltar.