Landlord insurance

bjbyorkshire

Could any landlords on here help me to decide how to assess the correct rebuild value of a rented mid terrace house please.

Built in 2002 of reconstituted stone with a man made tiled roof. Has 2 bedrooms, small study, bathroom, kitchen, lounge, staircase. It is about 25 ft from side to side (where it adjoins its neighbours) and perhaps 40 ft in width.

I insured it for £100.000 last year and the premium was £180 this has risen to £105.000 with a premium of £220 this year. It is in a not very upmarket area in West Yorkshire.

The builders we know haven't had any more idea than I have so how do you all guestimate the rebuild cost of your property for insurance purposes please.

Thanks very much.

Bjbyorkshire

AdrianC

There are plenty of rebuild-cost calculators on t'internet.
http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/calculator/calculator.aspx
is from as reputable and authoritative a source as any.

Or just look for an insurer that gives you a policy that doesn't require a guesstimate - many do.

societys_child

Have you tried the ABI calculator?

http://abi.bcis.co.uk/

Think you have to register, but it's free.

The policies I've had for the past few years have a set rebuild value. ie "up to half a million" or "up to a million" so no need to work it out.

edit: Adrian beat me to it, must type faster . . .

Cautious_Optimist

The rebuild cost may well be higher than the market value.

bjbyorkshire

Thanks for the replies and I will look at those sites.

Why would the rebuild costs be higher Cautious-Optimist? I thought that the freehold ground was a factor as you wouldn't need to buy this. I do realise if the houses either side were damaged then they would also need to be re built too. It scares the hell out of me to be honest. We have lived in our own house for 43 years and every tine the renewal notice comes round I wonder if I have the right cover. Yes it says up to ?? Million rebuild costs covered but if you get your original figures wrong the insurers will say that you are under valued so won't pay out full costs.

Thanks again, will investigate these sites later today.

AdrianC

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

Why would the rebuild costs be higher Cautious-Optimist?

Because there are still places where house values are very low - lower than the cost of rebuilding.

If a house would cost £100k to rebuild, it'd cost £100k to rebuild whether it's in an area so desirable that it'd be worth £500k finished or it's in some godawful post-industrial blighted wasteland of social deprivation and dumped "problem families", so only worth £30k.

bjbyorkshire

I just did a calculation on the sire you both recommended and the results are still a bit f a vague estimate.

The house is occupied so we haven't been able to get inside. I have the original building plans from the original builders but the measurements on them would need a surveyor to read them so hubby and I have based out sizes on our own property and the size of our rental property in relation to that.

26 ft x 16 feet X 2 floors equal 80 square Mtrs
based on the postcode and the info above but the walls are neither brick or stone rather a stone faced man made block.

The site gave a re build calculation of £86.000 to £136.000.

If I go midway then that is about what direct line have used to come up with their next years premium of £208 for £102,500 of cover.

Still seems very vague but it is the best I can get to without employing a surveyor.

Thanks for your help folks,

AdrianC

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

I just did a calculation on the sire you both recommended and the results are still a bit f a vague estimate.

Of course they are. You've given a couple of very basic details and are expecting an exactish figure? Nothing this side of having a surveyor around the property will give you anything else. Even then, a figure they give is likely to differ markedly from what you would actually have to pay to rebuild should the house be destroyed tomorrow.

All of which is precisely why many insurers just offer blanket cover up to £1/2m or even £1m rebuild cost, rather than requiring Joe Public to second-guess the unguessable.

dacouch

£105k to rebuild a mid terrace is low.

Have you included the cost of a fitted kitchen, bathroom suite, double glazed windows etc to the ABI figure assumes very basic fittings for these.

If you do not insure for the correct amount, the Insurers will deduct the percentage you have underinsured by from any claim even if your claim is only for £500.

If you insure for £102500 and the correct amount should have been £136000 then you're circa 33% under insured. If the house completely burnt down you could find your payout would be £102500 -33% so you would receive £69000 to rebuild your house. So you could be £67000 out of pocket for the sake of saving £44.

bjbyorkshire

I've done an Internet comparison site search as people suggested and found a company who do a blanket £500,000 re build figure so I feel confident that this figure will be better than me stating what I think the re build cost is. Your points are exactly why I asked the question. I don't want to be under insured so ... Provided the information I submitted to their site is correct the £500,000 max cover for a £150 excess makes me feel confident I won't be under insured.

Thanks for your input

societys_child

That's far better (remember, worst case scenario) if the house was totally wrecked, the site would need to be cleared, quite possible the adjoining housed shored-up, lots of paperwork, planning, architects, etc, before anyone could even think of rebuilding.