To Insure your buildings for the correct amount has to be one of the most important decisions to make, otherwise the consequences should something go wrong is not worth thinking about. If the property you own is mortgaged it is likely that the lender will need to be satisfied that the buildings are insured adequately.

It is a common mistake to assume that the sum required to insure a building is the market value of the property. In fact it is the rebuilding cost which needs to be insured, this bears no relationship to the current value of the property.

To help the consumer calculate the correct rebuilding cost of the property in your area, consider visiting the Association of British Insurers website here where you will find their house rebuilding costs calculator. Contained within this page is useful information concerning buildings insurance, notes on how to use the calculator, measuring your house correctly and using the online buildings insurance calculator.

Many companies have also recognised the fact that even with useful tools such as the ABI’s rebuilding calculator to help customers, there is still room for error if measurements taken are incorrect, and therefore, some products automatically insure buildings for a set amount. For example, Barclays home insurance policies include as standard buildings cover of £500,000 which meets the needs of most consumers. It is conceivable of course that if your rebuilding cost is very high, the one size fits all policy offered by some insurers may not be suitable. In this scenario there are of course insurance companies and brokers who specialise in providing cover for higher value homes.