In the current environment, the costs of sourcing material and labour has has increased substantially between 20-40% in the last 2 years as a result of the economic pressure COVID-19 put on the building industry which means it’s more important now than ever to check if your insurance policy adequately reflects your situation.

How often should I review my sums insured on my insurance policy?

With the prompting from Morgan Insurance Brokers each year, we recommend, and can assist updating your insurance cover to adequately insure your property and assets for their true replacement cost.

How do I determine the replacement costs of my home or investment property?

Fortunately, there are many online tools that allow you to calculate the replacement cost of your buildings. These calculators take into consideration the construction material, size of the property (excluding the land size) and other features and provide a replacement cost. We are Home Insurance Broker specialists and Landlord Insurance Experts.

How do I determine the cost of my personal contents?

Similar to building insurance for your home, there are online contents calculator available. However, these figures do seem to be inflated. We suggest recording all the items in your home, and record what the cost would be to replace those items at today’s retail price.

How do I determine the cost of replacement for my commercial property?

If you own a commercial property, online calculators may not be available to determine the cost of replacement for your building. Therefore, it is recommended that you contact a qualified builder, architect, or Surveyor to provide you with an accurate figure.

How do I determine the replacement cost of my business contents and stock?

To determine the cost of your contents/fitout, we suggest that you keep on record an asset register and have another document that has their replacement values as of today’s date recorded. These figures need to reflect today’s replacement cost for new, and not to take into consideration depreciation.

The importance of updating your sums insured annually

To avoid being penalised at claim time, we recommend reviewing your sums insured each year. For residential purpose properties such as a owner occupied homes and investment properties, there aren’t any financial penalties imposed by the insurer, however, you could find yourself contributing to the loss/claim.
For commercial properties, including contents and stock claims, if you under insure which exceeds the insurer’s threshold, then you could be heavily penalised – commonly known as co-insurance, or under-insurance clauses. This could be detrimental to your financial future.

With the help of Morgan Insurance Brokers, we can assist you in reviewing your sums each year to avoid any unexpected headaches if you were to experience a claim.