Rebuild prices.

[Kearn]

there are a lot of costs not considered beyond the actual marital sand labour element.

Thanks autocorrect, that would be materials and labour but you could probably add the cost of a divorce into some scenarios…!

 

[Flyfisher]

Current policy cover up to £1.25m and as said before they reuired me get an up to date figure validated by RICS. Have done that and they propose £2.2m !
For the main house they are using £4500 per sq m and for a brick garage £1200 per sq m I am wondering are these figures anyway accurate or just plucked from a book of prices?

If the worst happened, I wonder if the insurer would pay out to the owner for a DIY rebuild? Eg, suppose the RICS rebuild figure is £4500/m2 and the property is only insured for £3000/m2 but the owner could do the rebuild work/get it done well within the £3000/m2 figure (while still meeting all the relevant regs). Would the insurer still be able to reduce payout by claiming it was under-insured?

I suspect they'd certainly try and the only way to dispute it would end up in a messy and very expensive court case, at pretty much the worst possible time for the unfortunate and possibly homeless owner. This whole business really is most unsatisfactory.

Depends on construction and a number of things, but yes, 4500/m2 is ballpark, possibly higher now… got to remember a genuine worst case figure includes a lot of other things beyond physical rebuilding - demolition, skips, groundworks, site maintenance, fees for planning, building control, architects, etc, accommodation for a year plus, storage… there are a lot of costs not considered beyond the actual marital sand labour element.

That's also my understanding, but in practice how many 'complete losses' would actually need the foundations to be relaid, or the underground services dug up and replaced? I suppose they'd argue that these unlikely costs would attract a lower risk and therefore a lower premium such that everything averages out in the end.

 

[Cubist]

Can anyone advise if the insurers requiring a RICS produced Rebuild Valuation are ALSO removing their Under/Over Insured clauses from their policies?

 

[stuart45]

If the worst happened, I wonder if the insurer would pay out to the owner for a DIY rebuild? Eg, suppose the RICS rebuild figure is £4500/m2 and the property is only insured for £3000/m2 but the owner could do the rebuild work/get it done well within the £3000/m2 figure (while still meeting all the relevant regs). Would the insurer still be able to reduce payout by claiming it was under-insured?

I suspect they'd certainly try and the only way to dispute it would end up in a messy and very expensive court case, at pretty much the worst possible time for the unfortunate and possiblyk and therefore a lower premium such that everything averages out in the end.

It would be better if the house was valued at £600,000 and the rebuild was going to cost the insurers £1.5 million, to just hand over £1.5 million for you to buy another house and they get the land. As with cars that are a total loss they could offer the land back at a reasonable cost, and you then have the option of DIY rebuild, or buying another property.

 

[Flyfisher]

I would welcome a policy like that, which would avoid the need for a rebuild guesstimate and subsequent arguments. Let me insure for a fixed amount of my choice and be sure the insurer will pay out up to that amount. They would understand the limit of their liability and could then set the premium accordingly. I would happily pay the premium knowing that I could claim up to the amount insured. If that amount turned out to be too low to rebuild the property then that would be my risk, but at least I'd know how much I would have available to buy another house to live in, in the unlikely event of a total loss.

 

[blancmaison]

Go to aviva for insurance, we bought a grade 2 listed and went through lots of stuff with rebuild costs, aviva seemed to have a system that tells them the rebuild cost, also they were a lot cheaper too.

 

[a twig]

I would welcome a policy like that, which would avoid the need for a rebuild guesstimate and subsequent arguments. Let me insure for a fixed amount of my choice and be sure the insurer will pay out up to that amount. They would understand the limit of their liability and could then set the premium accordingly. I would happily pay the premium knowing that I could claim up to the amount insured. If that amount turned out to be too low to rebuild the property then that would be my risk, but at least I'd know how much I would have available to buy another house to live in, in the unlikely event of a total loss.

Such policies are available - primarily aimed at the commercial/corporate sector though but might be worth speaking to a broker to see if they can hunt one down