How much should you insure your home (Buildings Insurance) for, I've read that it should be the cost to rebuild from new but how do I know what that will cost without going into too much detail, Is the market value of the house a close enough indication?

Have PM'ed you.

:)

I'd be curious to get an answer on this....

The sum insured for Buildings has nothing to do with the Market value.

Imagine your house burned down, and was totally ruined. You need to insure for the cost of removal of any debris, and the materials and labour costs of restoring the home to it's previous standard.

If you consider the primary cause of the difference in cost between houses (area) and the fact that you already own the land, the cost of rebuilding would be the same for identical homes with identical damage in Ecclesall when compared to Fir Vale.

A good way of understanding the difference between buildings and contents is (generally) contents are the things you would take with you if you oved house. Therefore, a freestanding wardrobe is covered under contents insurance, while a fitted bedroom is covered under buildings.

The best bet is to get a new survey done to find out what the sum insured should be, or get a policy with 'blanket cover' where you don't have to declare a sum.

Good luck! :thumbsup:

K x

so what does it cost to rebuild a three bedroom semi?

Originally posted by Classic Rock
so what does it cost to rebuild a three bedroom semi?

You could try here (http://www.bcis.co.uk/costass.html) .

Be really careful not to under insure though. The insurance companies take a really dim view of it, and you could end up seriously out of pocket, especially if done deliberately.

E.g. Rebuild cost of house is £100,000. You insure property for £80,000, assuming that the house will never be totally destroyed.

Then, tiles blow off roof costing £3000 to repair. If insurance company realise you are under insured, they would pay you £2400 for storm damage, as you were only 80% insured.

K x

Around twice the cost of a 3 bedroomed detached because you have to cover next door's costs too or so I'm told anyway.

Originally posted by wendy
Around twice the cost of a 3 bedroomed detached because you have to cover next door's costs too or so I'm told anyway.

Wendy, how do you come to that conclusion? I'm not making this up for the good of my health! :thumbsup:

Generally, rebuilding costs are lowest on detached properties, and highest on terraced, but to generalise in this way is just silly.

K x

Some insurers now insure for unlimited.
Ours does this but it did used to be a set amount some time ago, they changed it over to unlimited at no extra cost.

Any recommendations on a good insurance company that can offer a cheap but effective quote?

Originally posted by Classic Rock
Any recommendations on a good insurance company that can offer a cheap but effective quote?

Try the big ones - Norwich Union Direct, Direct Line, More Than, Axa, etc. I'm with NUD, and find them really good!

Good luck!

K x

If you have car insurance with a general insurer, get them to quote you for house as well... if you don't ask for a discount you don't always get one. I got 15% off my house insurance for being a cheeky blighter.