Are rising construction costs putting your clients at risk of underinsurance?

What’s the challenge?

The risk of clients being underinsured has increased as a result of growing costs in the construction industry.

It’s anticipated that labour and material costs will continue to rise into 2022 so ensuring sums insured are at the right level is more important than ever.

Four things to know about rising construction costs

Covid-19 related lockdowns, Brexit and an unanticipated surge in demand for renovation works have all played a role in creating supply chain challenges and labour shortages. The main drivers of cost are:

Escalating shipping prices and delays at British ports are causing shortages of crucial parts and materials.
The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) reports that timber prices had surged by 20% by the end of January, while some roofing parts are likely to be unavailable until August.
Shortages of insulation, plaster, concrete products and even power tools have been experienced in recent months.
Figures from the Construction Products Association show that the UK lost more than a quarter of its EU-born construction workforce between January 2020 and January 2021.

What steps can you take to help your clients?

A Benchmark: building insurance e-valuation provided by Barrett Corp & Harrington (BCH) can help ensure your clients’ properties are insured for the correct amount. Some of the key benefits of a building e-valuation are:

Quicker and more cost effective than carrying out a site-based survey.
Can be used to value single or multiple properties on one site.
Ensures building insurance declared values are based on rebuilding costs, not the property’s market value.

For more information about a Benchmark: building insurance e-valuation, get in touch with your NIG contact or take a look at our guide.

“Of the Benchmark cases we have carried out for NIG to date, 83% were underinsured with sums insured needing to increase by an average of 63%. Underinsurance is a real problem and hopefully our Benchmark e-valuation service is a great solution,”
says Lorna Harrington, Director at BCH.