Insurance Property Surveys

Seven Reasons why you should choose IPS

		It is the Property Investor’s responsibility, under the terms of the lease, to set the sum insured and ensure this provides adequate cover on a full reinstatement basis, to include debris removal and all potential professional fees.
		If you insure for an insufficient sum, your insurance company will not fund the full cost of rebuilding your premises in the event of a claim, and will reduce any claim on a pro-rata basis through the application of what is known as 'Average'. Thus, if you insure a building for £500,000, and after a loss the insurance company’s appointed Chartered Loss Adjuster calculates the rebuilding value at £1M, you will only receive 50% of any claim. On a £350,000 claim, your insurer would not pay more than £175,000, leaving you, as the Property Investor, with a shortfall of £175,000.
		A tenant can usually force you, as the Property Investor, to rebuild after a major loss, such as a fire. Who is going to help you fund the shortfall if the property is underinsured? It is therefore critical that you are insured for the correct sum, or you could be placed in a very dangerous financial position as a Property Investor.
		Costs of revaluations can usually be charged to the tenant under the terms of the lease. The valuation cost should thus be cost-neutral to the Property Investor. We can help you draft an appropriate letter to the tenant, if required.
		You should not rely on the figure for rebuilding given in valuation reports commissioned by the lenders and obtained at time of purchase. These reports usually contain clear provisos which restrict the responsibility of the surveyor for the accuracy of the rebuilding figure. We have seen evidence that many of the rebuilding figures given are incorrect. You have no recourse if this is the case.
		In the very unlikely event that the IPS provided figure for reinstatement should ever prove to be incorrect (which has never happened before), you would have a right of action against the business. We have the required professional indemnity insurance cover.
		If your property is insured via Reich Insurance Group, the ‘Average’ clause mentioned in the second point above can be waived once IPS have valued the property on a rebuilding basis.