House Insurance

[mintymow]

Due to illness, I am having to take over some of the financies that my husband organised and I am currently having to look at the house insurance and contents. Am I right in thinking that I only have to insure the house from a cost of rebuilding value which doesn't have anything to do with the market value. How do I get an estimate of what rebuilding costs might be. The insurance premium is going up and it seems to me that we are insured for a lot more than might be necessary. Sorry for a long post but I'm feeing a bit at sea.

[woofgang]

you get the estimate as part of the insurance quote process. Have you got a mortgage? The mortgage company may have a view on how much you should insure the building for.

[mintymow]

Hi woofgang - there is no mortgage. I'll look into getting some quotes and see what comes up. Thanks

[Arrods]

Can't remember last time I had to provide a rebuilding cost estimate for house insurance. Many insurers these days base the price on other factors e.g. number of bedrooms. The Association of British Insurers web site contains (contained?) a guide to rebuilding costs but, as I say, you may not need it.

[Buenchico]

The Association of British Insurers provides a calculator so that you can estimate the cost of rebuilding your home. (You have to register with their website first but it's no more complicated than registering to use AB):
https://abi.bcis.co.uk/calculator/calculator.aspx

If you own your house outright you're not obliged to insure it at all. (There's no insurance on my house). If you've got a mortgage on it you're obliged to insure for the rebuilding cost.