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January 2012
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- January 2012
The Dangers of Underinsuring Your Property
Home improvements are a great way to add value to your property. It could be adding an extension to the back of your property will give you that extra space you have wanted for so long, a bedroom on top of the garage to make way for a new arrival or simply giving your kitchen a facelift.
Whilst these types of improvements will help increase the value of your home they will also increase the rebuild cost, which is where your home insurance comes in.
Research by Chubb Insurance found that buildings insurance for many homes can be short between £75,000 and several millions of pounds.
Pete Harrison from price comparison site MoneySupermarket.com said "While nobody wants to pay more than they have to for home insurance, failing to properly evaluate your home could cost you dear in the event of you having to make a claim."
Making sure you are fully covered
The Association of British Insurers and many insurance companies have an online calculator that will help you work out the rebuild value of your home.
The rebuild value is the amount it will cost to fully rebuild your home in the event that it is totally destroyed. It is extremely important that you do not get this confused with the actual value of your home.
It is important to keep up-to-date with the rebuild costs as these can rise over time. Some insurers will offer policies that are index linked so that the sum insured moves in line with the rebuild costs.
If you own a specialist type property such as a listed building or a cottage with a thatched roof then it may be worthwhile employing an independent surveyor to work out the rebuild costs. This is because specialist materials or unique building methods may be needed which will undoubtedly cost a lot more.
Reducing your insurance costs
If you have just made some costly improvements to your home the last thing you want to do is fork out even more for your annual home insurance premiums. Here are some ways you can reduce the cost:
- Install a standard NACOSS alarm system to protect your home. Some insurers will offer a 7.5% discount off your insurance premium.
- Find out if there is a local neighbourhood watch scheme in your area. This can save you another 5% off your premiums.
- Raise the excess on your premium. This can reduce your overall price but remember this is the amount you will have to pay towards any claim you make.
- If you wish to have both buildings and contents insurance, combine them with the same insurer – usually this will gain you an additional discount.
- Pay your premiums annually. Whilst paying monthly may be easier, insurers will usually levy an additional charge for this service.
- Finally shop around. Do not just accept your renewal price or the quote from your mortgage lender. Once you know the level of cover you require you will be able to compare like for like using a comparison service.
What Economic Downturn?
Despite the economic challenges we are all facing, DoINeedPlanningPermission.co.uk is pleased to announce that in its opinion the economy is looking up. As a business, we can confirm that we have never been busier and this is reflected in the number of visitors attracted to our website. When compared to the same period last year (4 week period December – January), the number of absolutely unique visitors is up by 139%, the number of visits is up by 150% together with a 104% increase in page views. For us, we see this as good news for both our advertisers and the construction industry alike.
If you are interested in taking advantage of our competitive and imaginative advertising packages, please contact our Business Development Director Oliver Henry on 0843 289 1968.
Build a House in 3 Days!
DoINeedPlanningPermission.co.uk is delighted to introduce Svenskhomes™ as one of its latest advertising partners.
Yes, it is not the stuff of fantasy and as the following short video will demonstrate, it is quite possible to build a house in 3 days.
Svenskhomes™ offers a range of timber homes, which are designed to the highest specification and are resistant to the extremes of the Scandinavian climate. Sweden has a long tradition in the building of timber houses and the Svenskhomes™ range is produced at a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant, sourcing well managed and sustainable timber from slow grown pine and spruce forests in the far north of Sweden.
Their range of timber frame and pre-fabricated houses are extremely energy efficient, surpassing current government requirements. All their houses are supplied with triple glazed windows and doors and high levels of insulation in the walls and roof.
