Reinstatement Cost Assessment in Colchester, Essex
It is crucial you regularly complete a buildings insurance valuation or reinstatement cost assessment (RCA) to ensure you receive the correct payout should anything happen to your property. For this, you will need a qualified surveyor or, better still, a Chartered Surveyor, like the team here at Morgan Sloane.
An RCA looks at your property and provides a rebuild cost figure, which is then used for insurance purposes. By reassessing regularly, you update that figure per inflation. Typically, this should be done every three years, or if you alter the property, such as adding a loft conversion.
Scenario: Imagine not having an RCA completed for 15 years, during which your property's rebuild cost has increased by £80,000. Then, there's a fire that leaves your property with significant damage – the structure is questionable and it's not safe to re-enter the property without extensive repairs. You try to claim on your insurance for the rebuild cost, but your insurance company will only give you £120,000, even though your property will cost £200,000 to rebuild. Now what?
If you are a property managing agent or a freeholder, you can often recover the cost of a reinstatement cost assessment via the service charge, so you don't lose out.
An RCA looks at your property and provides a rebuild cost figure, which is then used for insurance purposes. By reassessing regularly, you update that figure per inflation. Typically, this should be done every three years, or if you alter the property, such as adding a loft conversion.
Scenario: Imagine not having an RCA completed for 15 years, during which your property's rebuild cost has increased by £80,000. Then, there's a fire that leaves your property with significant damage – the structure is questionable and it's not safe to re-enter the property without extensive repairs. You try to claim on your insurance for the rebuild cost, but your insurance company will only give you £120,000, even though your property will cost £200,000 to rebuild. Now what?
If you are a property managing agent or a freeholder, you can often recover the cost of a reinstatement cost assessment via the service charge, so you don't lose out.