In Queensland there have seen significant rises in building costs over the last 12 months. We have also been experiencing some wild weather this summer season. It is important that your building has an up-to-date insurance valuation and has sufficient cover. You need to be covered in the event that your Body Corporate is required to make a claim due to the aftermath of storm season or any general insurance claim is required.
Property valuations can affect numerous thing:
- The price of commercial and residential strata insurance premiums,
- The currency of your insurance,
- The pay-out of total loss claims.
• What are the benefits of an insurance valuation?
Everyone wants to protect their home and investments. A huge part of doing so is to ensure they are properly insured. Having up to date and accurate valuations of your building will ensure that in the event of a claim you will receive the correct pay-out. Having an up-to-date insurance valuation is the key to avoiding your building being under insured.
• What happens if my buildings insurance valuation is out of date?
Failing to have an accurate and up to date insurance valuation can result in inflated premiums or insufficient cover in the event of a claim. Our experienced quantity surveyors will provide you with an accurate insurance valuation. This will give you peace of mind that should you need to claim, your valuation won’t cause any issues.
• Is a Building Insurance Valuation required by law?
In Queensland, the Body Corporate Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2008 states that a Body Corporate must insure for the buildings full replacement value. It is important to ensure you have the correct Strata insurance for your building for two simple reasons. It is a requirement by law and in the event that your Body Corporate should need to claim, your building will be insured for the correct value.
• How often is a building insurance valuation required?
An independent valuation is required every 5 years. However, given the current market we suggest that you do this more frequently.
Insurance companies increase the building sum insured by 5% for every year that a valuation has not been conducted. This is to allow for any increases in Consumer Price Index (CPI) and building construction costs. As a result, over five years the buildings’ replacement value can increase quite significantly, and in turn, the premiums are likely to increase as well.
We have witnessed many cases where Bodies Corporate have saved money on their premiums as a result of obtaining more frequent insurance valuations.
With the increasing property prices in Queensland and rising building costs, there is no better time to ensure your building insurance valuation is up to date. If you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your community manager or click here to contact us today.
