Buildings Insurance - Overcharged for years

Bluehoops

Hi forum,
A friend of mine (really!) bought Buildings Insurance from a leading High Street Bank, who set a rebuild cost of the property for £500,000. This year they decided to renew their Insurance elsewhere and discovered that the BCIS rebuild cost of the property was estimated at £150,000. (The market value of the property in good repair is @£250,000).

On this basis they have been paying far too much to the Bank based on what appears to be a very inflated estimate of the rebuild cost.

I was wondering if anyone else has suffered this, and if so what is the best way to try and reclaim the overpaid premiums.

noh

Many building insurance policies cover rebuilding costs upto a certain figure often £500K rather asking for an estimate for each individual property.
Your friend has almost certainly not been overcharged. There is zero chance of any claim on that basis resulting in any refund of premium.

_Andy_

They didn't say the rebuild value was £500k. They said it was UP to £500k - a basic blanket cover.
No wrongdoing there.

withabix

So, they didn't bother to shop around 'for years' and instead stuck with a policy which provided far more standard cover than they actually required?

And you think that because of their laziness, they should be entitled to a refund?

Why is this?

HappyMJ

Total loss claim are very rare. Most claims are up to around £20,000 no matter the value of the whole property.

dunstonh

A friend of mine (really!) bought Buildings Insurance from a leading High Street Bank, who set a rebuild cost of the property for £500,000.

Most policies have auto cover upto an amount nowadays. I remember the days when you had to specify the sum insured exactly and the move to having auto limits and it made things so much easier.

if so what is the best way to try and reclaim the overpaid premiums.

There is no wrong doing. There is no overpaying. Just a misunderstanding by you and your friend.