Estimator
Walls Construction Ltd
This calculator will assist you in insuring your home.
Remember that home insurance policies differ, some covering more than others; hence the importance of examining your policy carefully and insuring for the correct amount.
You can also download our PDF guide:
Are you fully insured? – Guide to house rebuilding costs
The estimated costs are a guideline to the MINIMUM value for which you should insure the structure of your house. Applying these rates to the area of your house will give you a base, which you should add to in order to cover other costs, such as boundary walls, garages, fitted kitchens, etc.
The insurance value for houses varies greatly depending on the type of house, i.e., Georgian, modern, with or without basement, etc.
The estimated costs are intended to cover typical, speculatively built estate type houses in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick and the North West and North East regions, which were built since the 1960s.
If you have another type of house, for instance a Georgian or Victorian house, the estimated costs will not be appropriate to adequately insure your house. If you have a house of this more unusual type, you should have a reinstatement cost assessment carried out by a Chartered Quantity Surveyor. The costs are calculated on a total loss situation, i.e., the house has been totally destroyed and has to be demolished and totally rebuilt. In addition to demolition and reconstruction, the costs also allow for Building Surveyors’/Architects’/Quantity surveyors’ fees, and for Value Added Tax (VAT) at the correct rates at the time of printing this guide.
The estimated costs do not include any allowance for contents such as carpets, curtains, loose furniture and domestic appliances. A separate insurance policy for contents is required. The guide should not be used for assessing liability for Local Property Tax.
It is sometimes thought that the market value of the house, in other words the price achieved when the property is sold on the open market, is the value for which the property should be insured. This is, however, irrelevant as the market value of a property generally has little relationship to the reinstatement value.
Unless your property is insured adequately, you may be penalised under your policy by having to pay a certain proportion of the reinstatement costs. It is therefore extremely important to have the property sufficiently insured. Where, for example, the insured sum is only 75% of the total reinstatement cost, you will only receive 75% of the agreed cost of reinstatement, whether the claim is made for partial replacement or total loss.
For example, in the case of a house insured for €270,000, where the total reinstatement cost was €360,000, the insured party would receive only €270,000 to reinstate the house in the event of the total loss. The insured party would thus be obliged to provide the balance of €90,000.
Similarly if there is a partial loss, which costs €60,000 to repair, the insured party would only receive €270,000 - €360,000 X €60,000 = €45,000 and would have to provide the balance of €15,000.
Most insurance is intended to leave you in substantially the same positionafter the damage as before. Therefore, in order to avoid problems withdeductions for wear and tear, you should make sure that your policy includescover for full reinstatement, or “new for old”.
How to use measure your house
It is essential that you re-assess your level of cover every year, based on current rebuilding costs, making allowance for any improvements or extensions that you may have made since your last renewal date.
The reinstatement costs outlined will cover the cost of rebuilding your home in compliance with current building regulations.
In case of doubt concerning any aspect of your policy, you should contact your insurance company or broker.
This house rebuilding calculator was produced by the Quantity Surveying Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in the Guide, the MediKids does not accept any liability of any kind whatsoever in respect of, or arising out of the Guide, or any error or omission therein, or from the reliance by any person on the Guide for any purpose.