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» Buildings Insurance Cover
» Contents Insurance Cover
Buildings Insurance Cover
A lot of people misunderstand the difference between the value of their home and
the rebuilding cost.
The value of your home is an estimate on how much other people would be prepared
to pay for it.
The rebuilding cost is how much it would cost to completely rebuild your house including
outbuildings, garages etc if it was destroyed.
The value of your home and the rebuilding cost may be different, generally the rebuilding
cost is slightly lower as there is no cost for the land. It is important for insurance
purposes that you insure your buildings for the current rebuilding cost. The rebuilding
cost is important because your insurer will base the premium you have to pay on
this amount. If it is set too low, the insurer would not pay out the full amount
of the loss in the event of a claim, set it too high and you will be paying too
much for your insurance.
How do I find out how much it would cost to rebuild my home?
The most accurate way is using a chartered surveyor who would be able to give an
assessment of the current rebuilding costs of your property. Obviously, this would
come at a cost to you. If you have recently had a new mortgage or remortgaged, you
may find that your paperwork shows a current valuation which you can use as a guide.
If your home is 1 or 2 storeys and built using standard construction methods to
a normal standard, you can use a rebuilding cost calculator. Please note that the
figure provided is an estimate and as it is supplied from a third party website,
we cannot be held responsible for any errors or information given.
» Calculate the rebuilding
cost of your home
The calculator is not designed for the following scenarios:
- Houses built of stone or materials other than brick;
- Properties with more than two storeys (see note on 'measuring your house') or with
basements and cellars;
- Houses with special design features;
- Houses other than of average quality;
- Flats, because types of construction differ widely, as do responsibilities for
shared parts;
- Houses of greater size than those described in the tables;
- Houses containing hazardous materials e.g. asbestos, likely to require special
precaution/treatment following damage or demolition;
- Houses which are considered to be historic or are listed buildings, which will
almost certainly have to be rebuilt to their original design using identical materials.
Still stuck
If you are still struggling to find out the rebuilding cost of your property, we
would suggest that you contact a chartered surveyor who will be able to provide
you with further advice. Please note that Letsure are not responsible for any advice
given by third parties and for any costs incurred in you obtaining a property valuation.
Contents Insurance Cover
Not many people know off the top of their head how much all of their personal possessions
are worth. However, the problem arises when you need to insure them – how much do
I put down. Put the value too high and you will pay more than you need to for your
contents insurance, too low and you will be under insured which is a big problem
if you make a claim.
What counts as Contents
Anything in your house which is NOT a fixture and fitting are counted as contents.
Items like furniture, clothes, linen, appliances, carpets, electronics, curtains,
crockery, paintings, jewellery, your CD or DVD and Blu-Ray collection... even the
dog basket. Many rented properties tend to be unfurnished and therefore have much
fewer contents than a typical property.
Calculating your Contents value
Unfortunately there is no simple way of doing this. We would suggest that the best
approach to working out the amount of contents cover you need, would be to list
all the items you have within the property room by room and then place a value against
each item based upon what it would cost to replace them. You may be surprised at
how much they are worth when you do this.
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