| Neil Willies Insurance Brokers & RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com bring you an update on property insurance problems and how to ensure you are correctly insured. |
| Lower value properties are ‘most’ underinsured. New data from RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com has revealed that properties with a sum insured of less than £500,000 are generally covered for just over half the amount they should be. On average, buildings insured for less than half a million are covered for just 55% of their true rebuild cost. This is in contrast with data for properties insured for more than £2m, which on average are covered for 72% of their rebuild cost. “Let’s be honest, this isn’t really a good situation all round,” said RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com director Will Molland MCIOB AssocRICS. “What we’ve seen from our assessments over the past 12 months across all levels of sums insured is a 32% shortfall in cover, a percentage point up on the previous year. However, those at the lower value end of the scale are proportionately more underinsured.” For properties that are over insured, which affects around 14% of buildings, an equally interesting picture emerges. Those with a sum insured of less than 500k are on average over insured by 20%, compared to 31% for those currently covered for more than £2m. “So, what we’re seeing is lower value buildings being a lot more out when it comes to underinsurance, but not so far off when getting their sum insured too high,” said Will. “Either way, the level of inaccuracy overall is quite staggering. 94% of buildings in the UK are insured for the wrong amount, with 80% underinsured and 14% over insured.” The data is based on more than 14,000 assessments of reinstatement costs by RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com between September 2020 and August 2021. For help and advice on your property insurance – Contact Justin @ Neil Willies on 0800 542 0672 or email sales@neilwillies.co.uk  |