Allianz/EBS minimum rebuild cost

lunacyfoundme

I have home insurance with Allianz through EBS. It was a self build so I was recently changing the insurance from construction to home and contents. I asked what the rebuild value was down as and they said €400,000 even though this was the initial valuation of the house and not the rebuild cost. My mortgage with them it only €220,000 so I couldnt believe they had this down. I asked them to reduced the rebuild cost to €250,000. They ranf EBS and they said that they would only reduce it to €335,000 and that if I wanted to get it down further I'd have to have the house revalued.

Does anyone have any insight of this? Can the EBS dictate my minimum rebuild value like that? And are rebuild values linked to the market price?

Maybe EBS mistakenly put down the market value as the rebuild value 4 years ago at the time I picked up the mortgage.

killers1

lunacyfoundme wrote: »

I have home insurance with Allianz through EBS. It was a self build so I was recently changing the insurance from construction to home and contents. I asked what the rebuild value was down as and they said €400,000 even though this was the initial valuation of the house and not the rebuild cost. My mortgage with them it only €220,000 so I couldnt believe they had this down. I asked them to reduced the rebuild cost to €250,000. They ranf EBS and they said that they would only reduce it to €335,000 and that if I wanted to get it down further I'd have to have the house revalued.

Does anyone have any insight of this? Can the EBS dictate my minimum rebuild value like that? And are rebuild values linked to the market price?

Maybe EBS mistakenly put down the market value as the rebuild value 4 years ago at the time I picked up the mortgage.

EBS are basing their minimum reinstatement sum based on the last valuation report that was carried out. As it was a self build the Bank's Valuer would have inspected the property on completion to allow you drawdown the final stage. It is this report that they are basing his reinsatement figure on as I imagine his figure at the time was €335k. The only way to have the reinstatement sum reduced is to have a new valuation report carried out by one of their panel valuers (at a cost of €130) and send it to the bank. It should have a lower reinstatement sum (as the cost of building has reduced) and that will be the figure you can then insure it for.

lunacyfoundme

Thanks for that information that's really useful. I know someone whose a valuer and would have done it for cheap but I figured they'd have a approved list of valuers themselves. All a bit of a racket really.

Thanks again.

killers1

lunacyfoundme wrote: »

And are rebuild values linked to the market price?

Maybe EBS mistakenly put down the market value as the rebuild value 4 years ago at the time I picked up the mortgage.

Just to be clear on this for you, the rebuild cost (or reinstatement cost to use Insurance Co speak) is neither based on the value of the property or the amount of mortgage outstanding. The reinstatement figure is what a Valuer works out that if your property was to burn to the ground the cost of clearing the site, employing an Architect to supervise and the cost to rebuild the house to it's current state. Just because you have a lower mortgage doesn't mean the reinstatement should be low and conversely just because the value is high wouldn't necessarily mean the reinstatement figure would be high. The EBS don't pick the reinstatement sum, it is determined by their Valuer who did the initial valuation and again valued the property on completion. Check with your friend as if they are a Valuer they could well be on the Bank's approved list...if not then just ask EBS to give you a list of local valuers in your area...

lunacyfoundme

Now I understand better. Its a bit misleading when they tell you about getting a valuation. Most people, like me, would assume they're assessing the market value. Still don't understand why the initial rebuild cost was down as €400,000 when it would be obvious to anyone the house wouldn't take that to build. I don't exactly live in a marbled mansion. I'll get on to the EBS tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

killers1

lunacyfoundme wrote: »

Now I understand better. Its a bit misleading when they tell you about getting a valuation. Most people, like me, would assume they're assessing the market value. Still don't understand why the initial rebuild cost was down as €400,000 when it would be obvious to anyone the house wouldn't take that to build. I don't exactly live in a marbled mansion. I'll get on to the EBS tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

When a valuer does the valuation report it will also cover the market value of the property but there is a separate section on the report where they state what the reinstatement sum is. I'd suggest asking EBS to give you a copy of the original valuation report that was done on the site & plans inspection and also a copy of the valuation report carried out on completion. These reports will show you what both the market value and reinstatement values as determined by the valuer at the time were. If you took your home insurance out via EBS and they insisted on having €400k for the rebuild cost if they misread the valuation report and confused the market value with the reinstatement cost I'd get pretty annoyed with them....If you took your home insurance out elsewhere they'll probably just say it was your mistake even though it was probably never properly explained to you at the time..