Both Leo and I know that, that wasn't what the point was. It was that nowadays building costs are so high that it's cheaper to buy then to build. We were not suggesting people use Market Value for the rebuilding amount.
True enough that without an indicator of house price changes over that time it requires a bit of guesswork.
My biggest fear when renting out a room, have to drill it into their heads to turn on the alarm if they leave the house for even 5 minutes, we have Action24 monitored alarm so can activate it remotely. The minute somebody leaves the house I have to check to see if they have armed it.
I discovered this clause about 20 odd years ago and discussed it with my broker at the time and even he was unaware that anytime you leave the house the alarm must be set but not only that, the alarm has to meet the current standards and be maintained as per the manufacture's guidelines
Have you tried getting a new online quote from your provider, in the past just by doing that has has knocked off at least 10% off the initial renewal offer for me
I would hope having the monitored alarm with action24 would tick the boxes but a question to ask them for sure, actually getting new upgraded system next week, it was cheaper to get their new system than pay an engineer to come out and recalibrate the sensors after our windows upgrade!
Not yet it's on that very long list of things to do on my next day off!!
I've heard where they requested a receipt for a service inspection dated within the 12 months prior to the claim.
With that in mind is it safe to use the SCSI guidelines as a realistic way calculating building cost??
I think they're a good starting point, but if it comes to a claim, the insurer will send an assessor who will report back an estimate of rebuild cost at that time along with the cost for the scope of works covered by the claim.
Just renewed with Axa as a new customer, €375 for the year. I have increased my building sum assured by €35k (over insured by €24 as per the SCSI website. I have also increased the contents by 10K but removed the specific cover for my ring as technically it should fall under the unspecified valuables of €2k cover.
The bank valuation will only apply to the time at which it's done for mortgage drawdown purposes and won't be accurate thereafter. I've always used the SCSI calculator and added a bit of margin. But my house is a fairly standard/compact mid-terrace townhouse so the calculator is likely to be in the ballpark. A one of custom build or otherwise usual property might be a different matter.
Yes, I forgot that the lender's valuation is a market valuation and not a rebuilding cost valuation so is not relevant/suitable for the purposes of assessing the level of property insurance needed.