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.

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.

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.

With over 530 branches Nationwide, Sequence Homes will be able to provide you with a free and no obligation valuation of your home which will better inform your decision. We decided to team up with Sequence Homes given both their unrivalled nationwide coverage and their reputation of being one of the leading estate agency businesses within the country.

Whether it's a kitchen extension or loft conversion, they understand how to make the right start, ensuring you get exactly what you want.

To learn more about this, visit our wind turbine section.

Walter Design of London is a multidisciplinary practice who offer services including interior design, architectural drawings, lighting and landscape design. Beyond this, they offer a maintenance and repair service together with skilled workmen who can undertake minor works including the repair of doors through to the putting up of shelves for example.

To learn more about the services they can offer, please contact WJ Walter BSc Ceng MICE on tel no. 020 7228 9552 or wwproj@gmail.com

1. Shop Around:- At least once if not twice a year, I will visit the fuel comparison web sites in the hope of finding an improved tariff that meets my needs. In order to assist you, I suggest you keep your utility bills as they can offer a more accurate way of comparing your present to other tariffs. Also, dual fuel tariffs together with paying by way of direct debit can assist in reducing your bill.
2. Get an Energy Monitor Installed:- Costing from anything as little as £30, a smart meter can be fitted to your home thereby allowing you to identify how much energy you are using and this is the clever bit, enable appliances to be set when power is cheapest. It is possible that some energy suppliers will provide them free on request or alternatively, you can buy one by visiting www.eco-eye.com
3. Get rid of the old boiler:- If your boiler is "G" rated of 70% efficiency or less, you may well be entitled to claim an allowance of £400 toward a new boiler. For more information, please contact the Energy Savings Trust on 0800 512 012.
4. Get Sewing:- Whilst double glazing is an efficient way to reduce heat loss through the fabric of your building, fitting heavy curtains is a cost effective way of reducing drafts.
5. Toilets:- As the saying goes, if it is yellow, let it mellow. A crude an inexpensive way of toilet flushing is investing in a bucket. I have one sitting in my shower and when I have a shower, I collect the water, which is not at temperature, and use that to flush the toilet with.
6. Think Shower, think eco shower head:- It is sobering to think that a power shower can use as much as 20 litres of water per minute. If like me, you do enjoy taking a shower, think of fitting an eco shower head which mixes water with air thereby saving you as much as 75% of water consumption.
7. Why heat all your rooms:- Simply keep those rooms you use heated and for the remaining rooms, turn the heating down to a minimum. In order to avoid drafts, why not close the doors to the rooms you do not use.
8. Fix the drips:- Did you know that a single dripping tap can waste up to 15 litres of water a day.

The ethos of the practice is to offer clear advice and to pursue the best course of action in order to achieve a client's objective. It has the necessary expertise and experience to deal with all aspects of the planning system including appraising development opportunities for land and buildings, dealing with planning applications and appeals, responding to Development Plans, dealing with Enforcement matters and acting as expert witness.

1. A keep warm pack
You need to be prepared that your heating could fail, as thousands of boilers break down every winter across the UK. Make sure you've got plenty of thick clothing, along with hats and gloves. Having a travel version of this kit should also come in useful – store this in the boot of your car in case you get stranded.

2. Set aside some food
When the weather becomes particularly treacherous, getting out to the shops can be tough. So set aside an emergency food and drink pack – tins of beans and soup should do the job, along with bottles of water in case you lose your supply.

3. Torches
If you suffer a powercut in the middle of the night, a torch will come in really useful. Make sure it's in an easy-to-find place and is stocked with batteries, too.

4. Shovels and spades
If you get snowed in, you'll need these to create a path to the outside world. But don't wait for the snow to set in before hitting the DIY store – buy one now and store it on your shed or garage so it's ready and waiting when needed.

5. Boiler insurance
If your boiler breaks down in the bleak mid-winter, you'll want to get it up and running as soon as possible. You'll also want to get the right tradesperson for the job. You can solve both these problems by getting central heating cover, the smart way to protect your finances while protecting your home. Get your cover with a reputable provider and the only engineer setting foot in your property will be one who's fully trained and qualified and, most importantly, on the Gas Safe Register. With many policies coming with a complimentary service you can also rest assured that your heating is running as efficiently as possible too – saving you even more money.

Several decades of research on advertising spending has shown that whilst the typical response is to cut back when economic times are tough, the general advice is to maintain your sales and marketing strategy to ensure your customers don't forget about you. The economy will recover, and when it does you don't want someone else to have walked off with your potential business!

We at doineedplanningpermission.co.uk are naturally very optimistic and are pleased to announce that our website traffic has never been busier! When compared to the same period last year, the number of visits has increased by over 132% (now around 20,000 per month) together with a 114% increase in page views. This is good news for advertisers!

If you are interested in taking advantage of our competitive and imaginative advertising packages, do get in touch. You can contact us in the following ways: call our Business Development Director Oliver Henry direct on 07711 836296; email us at contact@doineedplanningpermission.co.uk or submit your query via our online form at the top of the home page.