Rebuild your home: how reinstatement cost assessments protect your investment

If the worst happens and your home is damaged beyond repair, you'll want to know that your buildings insurance covers the cost of rebuilding it without you being out of pocket.

With increased severe weather hitting the country on a more regular basis as a result of climate change, the ever-present risk of fire destroying the property and a number of other external factors that may affect your home, while it is very upsetting and far from convenient should that happen, understanding what it takes to rebuild your property is of paramount importance.

This is the case whether you are planning to buy a new home or simply need to review the situation for the continuation of your buildings insurance on a current property.

One of the services your chartered surveyor can perform for you is the provision of a Reinstatement Cost Assessment (RCA). Here we have a look at RCAs in a little more detail.

Surveyor Local's surveyors are all members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and, as such, are governed by the standards laid down that cover all aspects of the surveyor's work and the services and documents that they provide as part of that. In the past, providing an RCA was included as part and by-product of the client's brief to provide a market value for the property.

As a result, it was subject to a number of caveats with an indicative opinion of the monetary value to be given to the client's insurers. And, naturally, despite the caveats, it meant that any stated reinstatement value would run into problems should the need arise with a damaged-beyond-repair property.

Nowadays, though, there are clear standards and direction laid down for RICS surveyors, including (but not limited to):

• establishing clarity at the point of the customer ordering a valuation that it is for the purposes of insurance
• covering the extent of what is to be insured and, crucially, what is not
• what fixtures and contents are to be included in the assessment
• defining the extent and boundaries of the property to be assessed
• incorporating any specific exclusions
• defining the base date from which the assessment is made
• understanding any background information (such as original building plans, extensions, etc.)
• clarifying what “new for old” might mean for the property

In the months and years after the Covid pandemic, coupled with the rising cost of building materials, the price of which have increased considerably in the wake of the impact of Brexit and other financial pressures and the impact of house price inflation, insurers are understandably looking for an up-to-date assessment of what rebuilding a property within the confines of the RCA would cost.

As time passes, there will inevitably be a growing disparity between what has been stated in the original RCA and what the costs would be today, which is why it is always a good idea to order an RCA from your surveyor, so that you have the latest information to give to your insurers when you renew the policy.

Statistically, it's very unlikely that you'll need to invoke the RCA with the insurers, but the risk is still there. And, if the worst does happen, you'll want to know that you are fully protected with the assessment of the cost of rebuilding your home up-to-date and with your insurers.

If you want to order a valuation and a reinstatement cost assessment from an experienced and conscientious chartered surveyor, then look no further than Surveyor Local.

At Surveyor Local, we only work with chartered surveyors who are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, ensuring the survey you get is always professionally delivered. They will work hard to identify all kinds of problems, including the impact of prior flooding on the structure of the property.

Call to get your no-obligation survey quote started, or to discuss your concerns with the acquisition of your planned property. Or you can get a quick quote, using Surveyor Local's easy-to-use quote generator.

Simply input your name, postcode, email address, phone number and an approximate value of the property (usually the agreed price), and we'll give you an instant quote for the work (with an email copy). We'll do the rest once you confirm your acceptance of the quote.