Why Do I Need Specialist Insurance?

The most valuable asset you will ever purchase is likely to be your home.  The more valuable the property, the more complex, time consuming and costly its needs such as maintenance and protection may be.

As in your business, as your personal assets increase so does your risk. The more you have, the more you stand to lose.  The irony of increased wealth and valuable assets is that whilst intended to bring joy they often come hand in hand with worry. What if something happened to damage your home? What if it was rendered uninhabitable? What if something catastrophic happened and it was damaged beyond repair? Nobody wants to think of bad things happening, but they do. Escape of water claims are on the rise and I’ve seen repair work for a burst pipe in luxury properties run into the £100,000s. Underinsurance is common with rebuilding costs difficult to estimate, especially for larger or listed properties or for those of non-standard construction. We regularly see those with their contents underinsured, as this sum is also hard to guess on larger properties. If your property is not insured for it’s full rebuilding cost (including the costs of fees and site clearance) and/or full contents replacement cost, you can see your pay out reduced in proportion with the underinsurance. For example, your full rebuilding cost is £2,000,000 but your property is insured for £1,600,000. You have an escape of water claim totaling £100,000. Your insurer will only pay £80,000. The larger the claim the larger the bill left for you to pay. At Ascend, we use insurers that if required will enact a full survey upon inception of cover, meaning that you will never be exposed to the risks of underinsurance. As well as surveying your property, they will calculate your contents sum insured and value any high value items of jewellery, collections or antiques. Following this survey, they agree to either increase your cover to Unlimited, or to pay the full amount in the event of the claim, even is this is beyond what you’re insured for. You’re likely to only discover that your policy falls short when it was too late. It’s vital to have a broker on your side who understands your risks and caters for them fully before a claim occurs.  As your broker, we are here to free you of those worries and bring you peace of mind. We’re here to prepare security and compensation for you and your family should the worst happen. We’re here to think of the “what ifs” and prepare for them, so that you don’t have to. To request a policy review please contact us at Ascend Executive 01245 449 060 or email at info@acendbroking.co.uk.