For many people your insurance can be ‘set and forget’ purchase, but in times like these with building costs escalating and rebuild timelines increasing you need to review your home and commercial building insurance regularly.

Your sum insured is how much your house or building  is ensured for. Having the right level of cover provides confidence that you will be able to rebuild or repair your home or building and secure your family or business future  but it also ensures that you’re only paying for cover you actually need.

Our advice is that you check your sum insured every years. Right no w as building labour is scarce and building materials are going up in price we’re encouraging our clients to make sure their sum insured are at the right value.

The role of a broker is to add value to your decision making – we can ensure you remember to factor additional things in that you might miss.

For example when setting your sum insured have you thought about accounting for any extra professional fees you might incur if you do have to rebuild your home such as an architect or designer?

What about extra costs to clear the site or demolish your home if it is partially damaged by a fire? This is usually in the realm of another $30-50k.

There are different ways you can insure your home, either up to the sum insured value or replacement sqm. It’s important to understand the difference. 

There is a great online tool that is easy to use for homes. The Cordell Calculator is an independent tool that uses information from a variety of third party sources and typical rebuild costs for homes with similar materials and features. 

All you need to do is enter your address and check the information is complete and accurately describes your home. 

For commercial buildings insurers are likely to request an insurance valuation every 2-3 years.  There is a range of valuers in the region and we are happy to share their details with you.

We look forward to sharing more tips and case studies to demystify insurance for Central App readers in our columns. 

Dewald de Beer, C & R Insurance. PHOTO: Supplied

Meet Dewald de Beer

Dewald has over 20 years’ experience in business and sales management. Together with his family he made Alexandra home in January 2017. He joined the team at C & R Insurance in June 2019. His passion for business, serving the community and being part of positive change is core to his values and commitment towards the region and its people. He enjoys spending time with his family, golf, tennis, lawn bowls and making music. C & R Insurance is a locally owned and operated company. They live and work in the same communities as their customers, and are on a first-name basis with them.