Are you unsure how much you should insure your home for to cover rebuilding costs?
As consumers, we’re always looking for ways to save on House Insurance premiums without cutting from the quality of the cover. One of the major factors that affect premium prices is the amount of buildings cover that people have on their House Insurance policies. The building sums insured needs to be enough to cover the rebuilding cost of your property. And making sure that you have the right amount of cover in place is not easy.
Also known as the reinstatement value of the property, the rebuilding costs refer to the cost required to fully reconstruct the property back to what it was. But in order to get the best price possible on your insurance premium, it requires having an optimal level of building sums insured. This is to avoid the situations of being over insured and under insured. As the cost of house insurance rises in line with the amount of building sums on a policy, over insuring a property can end up unnecessarily spending more on premiums.
While you may still be adequately insured, you will only receive the reinstatement value of the property even if you insured the property for far more than the rebuild cost. However, if the building sums insured are less than the required rebuild cost (i.e. you are under insured), you will not get the full amount needed to cover the cost of repairing your home. It is therefore vital that any policyholder is adequately insured for such an event. But there is a way to find out the right cost for your circumstances.
The Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland have a Guide to House Rebuilding Insurance (which is available here). If you are unsure of the amount of buildings cover you need on your policy, a member of our knowledgeable team can inform you on how much buildings cover is enough for you by calling 1890 746 759 or getting yourself a quote and we’ll call you back to discuss it!
