10 Tips on Getting Best Building Insurance

Tips on the value insured:

  1. Premiums are calculated on a cost per £‘000 of cover. This may vary depending on your postcode, administration costs, the cover offered by the insurer and the insurers desire for your business.
  2. For reasons explained below do not be under insured.
  3. You do not need to include the value of the land - the land won’t be destroyed.
  4. You need to insure for the full cost of replacing the buildings destroyed –
  5. You need to include a sum for the cost of clearing the site & architects' and surveyors' fees
  6. You need to insure for the full total value or any claim,  full or partial will be reduced by the insurer or rejected.
  7. Insurers, brokers can help with calculating your valuation or there is a rebuilding cost calculator on http://abi.bcis.co.uk/
  8. Insurers often automatically  inflate the cost of rebuilding on a regular basis so you don’t become under insured due to rising building costs.
  9. You shouldn’t try to make a profit on insurance – the industry operates on a principal ‘of utmost good faith’.
  10.  Example:If your house is worth say £250,000, the land may be worth £75,000 then insure for £175,000 plus a sum for clearing the site. If a builder would only charge £150,000 to rebuild then this is what you will receive so consider that when setting a valuation.

If in the above example you only insure for £100,000 two thirds of the total value of any claim including partial damage will be reduced leaving you with a problem of extra uninsured costs.

Home Insurance Policy Extras

You may be offered extra insurances with your buildings insurance policy such as:

Accidental damage
Get cover for accidents around the house, e.g. dripping wax on the carpet, damaging an expensive ornament or spilling red wine on the sofa.

Home emergency
24-hour assistance if a home emergency occurs e.g. electrical failure, problems with your heating or plumbing problems.

Legal assistance
24-hour access to a legal helpline for advice on legal matters.

Contents insurance
This may be sold at the same time with a discount for buying both policies

Special circumstances
Discuss issues with a broker if you are on a flood plain or concerned about Radon gas

 

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