When a property is severely damaged, whether by fire, flood or structural defect, seeking professional advice on how to put forward an insurance claim and gathering advice on the appropriate repairs that need to be carried out is essential. It’s vitally important that professional counsel is received at an early stage to ensure that the crucial steps are taken when moving forward with the claim.
Why Choose Property Insurance?
With time, all buildings will eventually suffer from defects, structural or otherwise, accidents or serious damage to some degree. Regardless of the levels of maintenance and care that have been given to the protection of your property, there is always the risk of serious hazards arising. If, for example, your building has been constructed in a way that is inherently defective, or there is a fire at your property causing irreparable damage, building insurance covers the cost of rebuilding your home or commercial property if it's damaged or destroyed.
It is a compulsory requirement when you’re planning to buy a property that you are insured, obtaining a mortgage on a home is often impossible without property insurance.
Buildings insurance[1] usually covers loss or damage caused by:
● fire, explosion, storms, floods, earthquakes
● theft, attempted theft and vandalism
● frozen and burst pipes
● fallen trees, lampposts, aerials or satellite dishes
● subsidence
● vehicle or aircraft collisions.
These are just some of the key areas in which property insurance companies will cover you for loss or damage and why it's so important to your business to have an insurance policy in place.
Do I Need Property Insurance?
In short; yes. Especially if you have a mortgage. As mentioned, it's increasingly difficult to obtain insurance coverage on a property that doesn't have a mortgage, one that's either covered by you, your landlord, or the business or landowner for commercial property. In this case, not only is it a vitally important safety net for you and your property, but it's also a necessary one.
It's important to make sure you insure yourself for the amount it would cost to completely rebuild your home. This is called the sum insured. The cost of rebuilding your home is not the same as the price you paid for your home, or its current value if you were to sell it. Rebuild costs are usually less than the current market value, so make sure you don't over or under insure yourself. Some policies work out the sum insured based on a general assessment of where you live and the type and age of your home. However, this may not fit your particular property, so you'll need to work out whether you've got enough cover. You should regularly review the amount your buildings insurance covers as rebuild costs tend to rise over time. Some insurers offer policies that will increase the sum insured automatically in line with rebuild costs.
Remember, if you improve your home, such as adding an extension or a loft conversion, the rebuild costs may also increase and you will need to make sure you're covered.
Here are some of the key reasons to consider property insurance:
Protection
The main function of property insurance is to offer protection for your house and its contents. The protection for your property covers all kinds of risks of damages caused by fire, natural disaster, or other factors. It also covers the risk of loss due to theft or other criminal acts, as well as other kinds of risk of disturbances.
Safety
The existence of property insurance protection against the uncertain risks of loss such as fire, natural disaster, theft, and so on surely gives you peace of mind and confidence as the owner of the assets. Should those risks occur and you suffer losses, the insurance company will surely give the appropriate compensation.
Low Cost
Imagine if your entire house building and its contents are burned down. You will surely suffer a huge amount of financial loss. The repair and replacement costs for all those properties are surely substantial. Property insurance gives compensation for that loss so that your financial condition remains protected.
Damage or Loss
Property insurance gives compensation for any damage or loss of your property. The term for compensation is that the loss is not caused by your own negligence. Should the risk of losses occur and cause you to lose your home, the property insurance can provide you with a temporary place to stay for free or compensate you for the temporary place’s rental fee.
What Does Property Insurance Cover?
Property insurance covers a range of topics, from personal possession loss or theft to severe structural damage. There are three key areas covered by property insurance that account for almost all claims:
Hazard Protection
Hazard protection covers the cost of a complete rebuild or repair of your main living structure should it be damaged in a covered event, such as a fire, hurricane or lightning storm. Hazard coverage also covers the cost of replacing personal belongings such as jewellery, furniture, clothes and electronics if they are stolen or destroyed.
Living Expenses
If you are asked to leave your property or home during an extensive period of repair or rebuild, some of your living costs may also be covered as part of your insurance policy.
Liability Coverage
Liability protection covers the costs of bodily injury or property damage caused by a member of your household, including your pets. In addition, it also covers the costs of medical bills caused by no-fault injuries that occur on your property.
Making A Claim
When making a claim on your property, it's essential that you are prepared, and have both your claim and your evidence to back it up ready in advance. Once you've done this, you'll want to call your insurer.
Remember, you'll have up to 180 days after the incident to make your claim, so gathering as much evidence in this time is vital, however, as with any insurance claim, the sooner you call your provider the better. Insurers tend to prefer handling large claims, particularly for commercial properties, as soon as possible, especially if the root cause is either flooding or fire. This is because delaying your claim could even worsen the damage to your property, potentially requiring further repair and disrupting your current claim.
As mentioned, gathering evidence is essential, and though it may be tempting to immediately clear up the mess any damage has left behind, you'll want to wait until the insurance company has assessed the damage themselves. Immediately after the event that has caused the damage, you should consider taking many photographs, as your insurer will request extensive detail concerning the damage caused, taking photos or videos here is incredibly useful in the event of a dispute during your claim. On a similar note, your insurance company will want to note exactly what you've lost, so nothing should be thrown away until after the assessment is carried out by the loss assessor.
Will Making a Claim Increase My Premium?
Understandably, it can be tough to know just how much of an impact making a claim can have on your insurance premium and this can end up becoming a major roadblock for some. As with any insurance, a recent claim, due to an accident or incident will result in an adjustment of your insurance price and because of the independent nature of each individual claim, it can't entirely be quantified just how much your premium will shift. Of course, less serious claims will always lead to less serious premium hikes, compared with a serious fire for example, but either way, your premium is likely to be affected.
Simon Levy Associates - Chartered Building Surveyors
At Simon Levy Associates, we can help you make a building insurance claim on a property in Borehamwood, Barnet or Watford. If you have noticed damage to your property and wish to find out the underlying cause, and seek help to specify the appropriate scope and quality of repair work to be carried out, please do not hesitate to
get in touch[2] for a free informal chat.
