Protecting your investments
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 4th June 2022
It is often said that purchasing a property, whether that’s your home or a dental practice, is one of the single most expensive investments you’ll ever make. Therefore, it’s in your best interests to ensure the building is protected should its structure become damaged.
There are various things to consider before taking out buildings insurance, so it’s vital to research what’s available to make sure you’re choosing a policy that bests suits you and your property.
What can you expect from your policy?
All buildings insurance policies will be either specific or unlimited sum insured. Specific sum insured buildings insurance means you need to work out the rebuilding costs of your property. You can do this yourself, either by finding out the value from a recent mortgage survey, or you can pay a surveyor to do it on your behalf. If the sum insured isn’t enough to cover the rebuilding costs, then the insurer might not pay the full amount of any claim you make, so be sure to estimate the value of the rebuilding costs as accurately as possible to avoid being underinsured.
If you choose an unlimited sum insured policy, the amount you can claim won’t be capped at a certain amount – as such, you won’t need to work out the rebuilding costs. Instead, you’ll need to share some details about your property. For a house, this will include how many bedrooms it has as well as information on the surrounding area, and your insurer will decide how much to charge based on this information. For a commercial building, such as a dental practice, the location of the business, as well as its size and turnover, will be taken into consideration when determining the rebuilding costs.
What’s covered
Buildings insurance can be claimed to rebuild or carry out necessary repairs should your property be destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. What does buildings insurance cover? It can vary policy to policy, so it’s crucial that you take the time to look through the features of each policy and see what best suits your requirements.
What sort of damage could your property be at risk of? Properties in certain areas may be more susceptible to different threats. For example, if you live near the coast, then there may be a chance of flooding due to rising sea levels.[i] Not only this, but coastal properties may take the brunt of severe weather, such as high-speed winds.[ii] Falling trees, as well as aerials and lampposts, are issues that can cause considerable damage to your property and will usually be covered by buildings insurance. For less severe events, such as smoke damage or broken windows, smaller claims may be made. Certain providers will also cover attempted theft and vandalism.
Some policies may cover the costs of alternative accommodation, such as a hotel or a rented property, should your home become inhabitable due to damage caused by an event such as flooding or a fire. If you choose to stay in your property but are unable to use your kitchen, you may be able to claim back the costs of food deliveries and takeaways. A policy that is index linked means that should rebuilding costs increase, your insured amount will automatically increase too.
Other things to look out for include cover for sewer pipe blockages, which could cover for both finding and clearing the blockage. Burst pipes, tracing and accessing a leak, and underground services may not always be included, so keep an eye out for those. Whether the policy includes an emergency helpline may also be of interest to you – in an event of an emergency repair, an approved tradesman will be sent out to fix the issue as soon as possible. Usually, you’ll pay the tradesman who carries out the emergency repair and then claim the costs back from your insurer. For dental practices, this policy feature may be particularly attractive, as you’ll need to get your practice up and running swiftly to ensure you can still deliver treatment safely to your patients.
Watch out for the buildings insurance excess – some insurers will let you choose how much to pay towards a claim, with higher excesses available usually in return for a lower premium. Speak to a range of insurers and see what they offer and whether this meets any specific criteria regarding your property.
What’s not covered
There are some things that aren’t covered by buildings insurance – the items within your property are covered by contents insurance, so in an event where they become damaged, you couldn’t make a claim to your buildings insurance provider. Similarly, general wear and tear, such as damaged caused by damp or rust, is not covered. Damage to gates and fences are also not generally covered either, as well as damage caused by pests or birds.
Get expert advice
Ensuring that you’ve chosen the right buildings insurance for your property is vastly important, but it can be a headache. However, with aid of experienced dental specialist financial advisers like money4dentists, you can rest assured that your investment will be protected with a policy that is best suited to you and your needs. money4dentists strives to ensure clients are guided and advised appropriately through all of their professional and private financial endeavours. With a comprehensive and unique understanding of dentistry, it is no wonder that money4dentists delivers an award-winning service for every client.
Whether it’s your home or your dental practice, ensure that it’s well insured with a suitable buildings insurance policy, so you know that your investment will be sufficiently protected for all the years to come.
For more information, please call 0845 345 5060 or 0754 DENTIST.
Email info@money4dentists.com or visit www.money4dentists.com
[i] www.eea.europa.eu. (n.d.). Extreme sea levels and coastal flooding. [online] Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/ims/extreme-sea-levels-and-coastal-flooding [Accessed 17 Jan. 2022].
[ii] Met Office (2019). Where are the windiest parts of the UK? [online] Met Office. Available at: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/wind/windiest-place-in-uk [Accessed 17 Jan. 2022].
