Well, it has been a few weeks since my last post and christmas has come and gone.  I had a great time at home with the family and we are now looking forward to whatever next year brings.

Todays house price news showed the continued downward trend in value with a 1.9 percent fall in November due to the weak market bringing the average value of a home to £161,883 which is similar to February 2006 levels.

With these continued falls, it is important to remember that most insurance policies are based on the rebuilding cost of your property and not the sale value.  It is important that you get this right as insurers may apply what is termed ‘average’ in the event of underinsurance which would mean a reduction in any claim payment you may receive.

The rebuild value can be estimated if you know the square footage of your property and the Association of British Insurers have a house rebuilding cost calculator to assist with this.  The following link will take you there:

REBUILDING CALCULATOR

A number of the major insurers have increased their monthly index-linking amounts from 4 to 7% which indicates that they believe that the cost of rebuilding a property is increasing.

If you need any further guidance, call us on 0800 0747477.

I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year

Nick Blunden