Residential Insurance Valuation

Cyclone Gabrielle has shown that many Hawkes Bay homeowners are under insured.

Many homeowners are discovering that their insurance coverage is not enough to replace their assets due to rising construction costs that exceed general inflation. Homeowners may have also missed or underinsured site improvements such as fencing, paving, roading, and minor buildings. In addition, delays in locking down rebuild costs caused by the insurance process, clearing the site, rebuild planning, and securing labour and materials can see costs inflate. It is important for homeowners to review their insurance coverage to ensure they have adequate protection.

Most insurance companies have recently moved to ‘sum insured’ replacement cover on your home.

This means you are now required to specify the amount of insurance cover you need. It’s vital that you get this right! Few owners have the tools or knowledge to undertake this task adequately themselves.

Why Use A Registered Valuer?

A registered valuer is a trusted, independent property professional who can provide an impartial professional report on the costs to replace the improvements on your property in the event of an earthquake, fire or other disaster.

An Added Valuation insurance report, includes the cost to replace your home with ‘modern equivalent’ materials, inclusive of fixtures and fittings, as well as any improvements you would replace (fences, paths, driveways, pools, septic/water tanks, retaining walls, etc). Our assessments allow for demolition costs, professional fees (architects, engineers, council, etc) and inflation. We also provide you with an indemnity value (the cost to replace less inflation) and can, upon request, provide a functional replacement value.

Our valuation report will remove the guesswork and the risk out of the calculation. Our valuer will provide you with a professional report which provides the required answers. Our advice is thorough, independent, professional, objective, and specific.

Can I just use an online calculator?

Most insurance companies are providing their clients with access to free online calculators to help their clients estimate the cover they need, although still recommend that the client should seek professional advice. These calculators use general property and building data which may be relevant to your home. But are these calculators accurate? Many of our clients use these calculators prior to having us undertake an insurance valuation for them. Our experience is that our client’s calculations often differ significantly from our assessment.

Why these calculators are potentially unsafe?

Overly simplistic – They are simplistic so don’t adequately cover anything but the most standard of building scenarios. E.g. the calculators we have seen treat all garages equally.
Sensitive – The calculators are highly sensitive to subjective criteria, e.g. ‘To what standard is your home designed and built?’ With choices of just: ordinary, quality or prestige.
User error – The calculator is only as good as the data that is entered, and can be highly sensitive to the information entered. E.g. incorrectly describing your Summitstone house as stone rather than brick would significantly affect the output.
Inaccurate sizes – Not accurately knowing (or inaccurately calculating) the buildings floor areas
Missing items – Either though the calculator not allowing for assets or you not thinking of assets. Many people miss items potentially of significant cost. E.g. power transmission lines, septic tanks, paving, decking, retaining walls, etc

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We are pleased to say we were very delighted with your report, the professional way you went about it and the speed with which you delivered the very professional report. We also like the attention you gave to our request for some minor alterations and additions to your room-by-room descriptions and for an extra hard copy of the report. One Insurance Broker we were asking for a quotation was pleased we had your report as she said your reports are the best in the business and she always directs her clients to you.
Nola and David Bassett

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Thank you very much for your very detailed and professional report. We are pleased that we made the decision to do this and see it as a security for us should anything happen to the property. In 2004 our Woodville farm and house went under water in the flood and we were always grateful for our insurance cover at that time. Again thank you.
Tineke and Fred Stokes

Why Added Valuation?

At Added Valuation we believe in doing things right. That means we won’t cut corners to get the job done. We take the time and have invested in the technology necessary to ensure you get the information you need to accurately insure your home.

We use digital laser measures, Bluetooth communications and iPad drawing tools to ensure we accurately measure your property. And we don’t just measure your dwelling, we will measure your decks, patios, garages, and any other buildings or assets that have a material impact on your insurance requirements.

We record detailed notes and take a good photographic record of your property to ensure we have the information to accurately assess the cost to replace your assets. Collecting the necessary information, even with the technological advantage we have, typically takes about 1 – 1½ hours on site.

We have consulted with our clients and the insurance industry to develop thorough reports which provide all the information needed to satisfy your insurance requirements.

Added Valuation provides insurance valuation right across Hawkes Bay from Dannevirke to Mahia, so please don’t hesitate, book your valuation today.