Rebuild cost

[ctaniab]

I've just had a survey (home-buyer) back on a property I'm hoping to buy. The rebuild cost is given by the surveyor but when I plug the details he's provided (for m2, year of construction, etc) into the bcis calculator I get a figure of 5k more. I know it's not a major difference, but don't want to be told by my insurer that I've undervalued if I should ever need to make a claim. Which figure should I use?

[Poppy]

Take a look at a thread I started called Sufficient Insurance (http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=4393).

When I shop around for buildings insurance, I tell them the address, rebuild cost, approximate year of construction, type of construction, basically answer whatever they need to come up with a figure. Just call for a few quotes. You'll soon learn what information the insurers require.

Don't waste your time on the BCIS calculator or online calculators.

[Pete Matthews]

A building sum insured difference of £5000 is unlikely to cause a major issue with insurers. If you use a recent figure provided by a qualifed surveyor you should be ok. Remember that it should be reviewed regularly and indexation may not always keep the figure correct over a longer timeframe.

For a quote call UKinsuranceNET on 0845 3651264 or visit www.landlords-building-insurance.co.uk

Chris

UKinsuranceNET

[tenant29]

I've just had a survey (home-buyer) back on a property I'm hoping to buy. The rebuild cost is given by the surveyor but when I plug the details he's provided (for m2, year of construction, etc) into the bcis calculator I get a figure of 5k more. I know it's not a major difference, but don't want to be told by my insurer that I've undervalued if I should ever need to make a claim. Which figure should I use?

Companies offering insurance cover for blocks of flats usually take the declared value ( which are calculated using building construction rates / sq m from BCIS) in the application form and increase the "insured sum" by 20%-30% higher . So you can follow their example.

[specialist]

Flat owners at risk of having dual insurance

Sarah Hills

Flat owners may be individually insuring their property in a block of flats with some direct insurers; a move that one broker believes amounts to unethical practice.

Neil Cook, of independent intermediary Delite Insurance Agency, claimed that taking out individual building cover for a flat in a block was unethical and accused some direct writers of mis-selling cover.

He commented: "This leaves major issues about reinstatement, if there is a claim for example, and it is also not giving good advice. The public needs to be made aware of this and brokers should also be aware and use it as a tool to get back into the market."

Mr Cook became aware of the problem when managing the insurance for a client's premises: "I was surprised when he said his bank had persuaded him to take out building cover when he arranged his mortgage with them four years ago. This was despite living in a flat that was part of a block of eight.

"Lenders are not supposed to insist that you take out building insurance, but word their letters to make you think that you should."

Traditionally, a flat is insured as part of the block and often flat owners pay insurance as part of their service charge: "I have heard of cases of insurance being paid as part of the service charge and charged by the lender too," added Mr Cook. "It is overly unnecessary and complicated if people are enticed to insure single flats because they don't realise that they may already be covered. I would say that about 25% of flat owners are dual insured."
Specialist@deliteinsurance.co.uk