It's always a good time to check your Home Sum Insured

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2022 January 20

It is essential that the Sums Insured on all your policies remain accurate to ensure you have enough cover in the event of significant loss or damage.

Over and above the actual cost to rebuild your dwelling, the Sum Insured needs to cover the cost of demolition and debris removal and professional fees such as architects and council costs.
Even though Insurance Companies automatically increase the sums insured on Home policies to allow for inflation, we strongly recommend that you regularly double-check the rebuild value of your home. There are a couple of options available to you to review this:

• One of the most accurate ways to determine your rebuild cost is to employ the services of a quantity surveyor or property valuer who can provide a detailed Insurance Valuation. Cost Consultants Ltd are specialists in Dwelling valuations – please refer to their website for further information. (www.costconsultants.co.nz). Valuation costs start from around $750 but may increase depending on the location and type of home.
• There is also a free online calculator called Cordell Sum Sure which will provide an estimated rebuild cost. Following this link Sum Sure (corelogic.co.nz) will take you to the calculator. When you type in the address, it automatically pulls through information on the house (from Council records etc), you can then simply check the data and if required - update any additional details The process takes approx 5-10 minutes to complete if you have all the required information available.
  Note: Recently, we have found automated calculator values to be on the lighter side, especially considering the current increased demand on supplies and labour etc due to Covid.

We recommend sending through the Insurance Valuation or Cordell Estimate for ICIB to review and save on your file.