You need to tell us the rebuild cost of your home to get home insurance quotes - so here’s how to work it out.
Calculating the rebuild cost of your home is a necessary part of getting a home insurance quote.
The rebuild cost is the amount of money required to reconstruct your home from the foundations up, if your property was damaged or destroyed, in a fire or flood for example.
It can be broken down into two main factors:
The rebuild cost is usually lower than the market value because it doesn’t include the cost of the land your home is built on.
It’s how much you’d pay to completely rebuild your home, including the cost of materials and labour. You can usually find the rebuild value in:
According to Defaqto, 94% of 311 buildings-only policies had a maximum building value of £300,000 or more.
[2] House prices are usually more than the rebuild value, so most policies seem to offer more than enough to cover your rebuild costs.
Rebuild costs can change over time, so if you’re not sure you have an accurate valuation you can use the BCIS's rebuild calculator.
Alternatively, you can hire a chartered surveyor to evaluate your home and prepare a reinstatement cost assessment. That could cost a few hundred pounds, but it could be worthwhile for the accuracy of the information it contains.
If you’ve made major changes to your home, like adding an extension, then you’re likely to need a new rebuild value and should also let your insurer know.
Yes – if you add an extension, loft or make structural changes to your property it could increase the rebuild cost.
You must let your insurer know about these changes so that your premium can be adjusted to accurately reflect the full amount of cover you need.
Find out more about home renovations and home insurance.
If you underestimate the value of your home, your insurer might not pay the full cost of repairs if you need to make a claim.
For example, say you’ve told your insurer the rebuild value of your home is £100,000, but when it comes to claiming you discover the rebuild will actually cost £150,000.
Unfortunately, your insurer will only pay out the £100,000 figure you told them - so you’ll end up losing out.
Don’t over-estimate the rebuild value of your home - you’ll end up paying too much for cover you don’t need.
“Overvaluing the rebuild cost of your property could mean that you’re paying more money than you should be for you home insurance, as your insurer will only ever pay the cost of the rebuild regardless,” says GoCompare’s home insurance expert, Ceri McMillan.
The market value of your home is usually more than the rebuild cost, so don’t rely on that figure.
The rebuild cost of properties made from non-standard materials, such as brick or tile, might be more expensive to rebuild than a regular property.
This is due to the costs associated with replacing materials such as thatched roofs and the costs of hiring a specialist professional to construct them.
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[1] UK House Price Index: April 2021 - Office for National Statistics
[2] Last checked 18 May 2021