What is the cost of home insurance?
According to MoneySuperMarket’s data the average price for overall home insurance in spring 2016 was £107 (March – May) or the equivalent of £2.06 per week. That’s a decline of 1.8% compared to winter (December – February) 2015 and a decline of 7.2% year-on-year.
Our data found that the average annual price for contents insurance was £59 in spring 2016, down by 2.3% from the season before and down by 13.2% year-on-year.
The average annual cost of buildings insurance in spring 2016 was £84, a reduction of 0.7% from winter 2015, but up 1% since the same period in 2015
The average annual cost of combined contents and buildings insurance was £120 in spring 2016, a decline of 1% compared to winter 2015 and a decline of 7.60% year on year.
Type of cover | Average annual premium (spring 2016) | Change year on year (spring 2016 – spring 2015) | Change season on season (winter 2015 – spring 2016) |
|---|---|---|---|
Overall | £107 | -£9 | -£2 |
Building and contents | £120 | -£10 | -£1 |
Buildings | £84 | +£1 | No change |
Contents | £59 | - £9 | -£1 |
Contents Value Chart
It is important to value all the contents in your property. Be careful not to under insure or you could miss out when the time comes to make a claim. However, at the same time, don't over insure, as this will simply increase the cost of your premium unnecessarily.
To measure the value of the contents go around every room in your house and assess their cost. This should cover all the contents that are not covered by building insurance and should include items that have been bought for you or that have been made, as these too will have to be replaced. Add a percentage for inflation and then total the contents – this should be the minimum you insure for.
Simply guessing the right amount without totalling the contents will usually backfire and leave you under insured by as much as 20%.
Rebuilding Cost Information
This is an area that can often be open for debate between the insurer and the consumer. That's why it is the responsibility of the insurer to get this figure right.
Remember to insure the rebuilding cost of your home rather than the market value. Land normally accounts for about a third of the property's value, yet it is not under threat from theft, storms or fire. Consequently, covering the rebuilding costs of your home rather than the market value saves on your premium. It is often less costly to rebuild your damaged house than buy another as the land it sits on typically remains unscathed.
The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) is widely used by surveyors to provide cost advice and calculate insurance reinstatement cost investments. They are commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to provide guidance for the rebuilding costs of properties.
To assist you in assessing the rebuilding costs of your home, MoneySuperMarket has produced a guide to help you make good judgements to form an accurate calculation of the home insurance cover you need.
Please note that this guide is no substitute for professional advice, which can be obtained from a chartered surveyor. It is a general guide that does not take into account specifics such as properties not built out of brick, properties with basements/cellars, houses with special design features, houses other than those of average quality. However, we hope you can use it as a general guide to assist you in getting the best home insurance deal for you.
Rebuilding Assessment
From the BCIS website, calculate the gross external floor area of the house – this is the area measured to the external face of the external walls for BOTH floors.
1. Obtain the rebuilding cost in £/m² from the BCIS table.
2. Select the 'Type of Property' from the drop down menu
3. Select the 'Age of Property' from the drop down menu. There are four age bands.
Detached
Semi-detached
Terraced
Bungalow
Semi-detached Bungalow
Pre 1920, 1920 – 1945, 1946 – 1979, 1980 to date
http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/index.cfm#calculation
4. Select the region:
Region One: Greater London
Region Two: South East, East of England
Region Three: North West, South West, West Midlands
Region Four: East Midlands, Yorkshire and The Humber, North East, Wales, Scotland
5. Insert a figure for rebuilding any garages
6. Insert a figure for anything else covered by the policy in the box marked 'Add for other items covered'
7. Not all policies will be index linked so add a suitable allowance for inflation during the policy.
Once you have your figures use our price comparison tool to find the cheapest home insurance quotes and best cover.