Prepare for natural disasters with an Insurance Valuation

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has recently stressed that now is the time to prepare property for future disasters. This comes as the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast the third year of La Nina across eastern Australia during spring and possibly summer.

Whilst Australians are used to droughts, floods, fires, and storms many are still recovering and rebuilding from the destructive floods that impacted communities in south-east Queensland and New South Wales in 2021 and 2022.

These events were felt so close to home and are still being felt here at Acumentis. The Acumentis Lismore office was inundated, team members lost homes and stood shoulder to shoulder with their local communities who lost so much. To this day, Acumentis is still supporting many Australians with property and insurance replacement valuation advice as they navigate repairs, rebuilding, and recovery from these events.

This recovery has been hampered by building supply and labor shortages, and record low rental vacancies, leaving people displaced and flood-damaged homes not yet repaired.

With the recent forecast for a third La Nina and Cyclone season approaching the ICA has provided 5 top tips to prepare.

1. Review all building contents and landlord policies.
2. Avoid underinsurance by checking your sum insured
3. Prepare room-by-room inventory of contents
4. Check your cover before it's too late
5. Inspect the property and ensure maintenance is up to date

To prepare it is important that you don't wait until you need to make a claim to find out if you're adequately insured for all replacement costs.

How Acumentis can help?

Insurance Valuations

Engage Acumentis property professionals to undertake an insurance valuation. An Acumentis valuation will make sure your building is insured for the full amount it would cost to replace, not just the replacement construction costs - which have also significantly changed in the past two years. Acumentis experts will ensure all elements of replacement including building costs, escalation, demolition/removal of debris, re-design fees and application fees are all considered and conform with current regulations.

What is the benefit of an Insurance Valuation?

• Engaging an expert will ensure accuracy and remove assumptions often used in market appraisals that could leave you underinsured.
• To ensure adequate coverage so that in the event of a claim owners are not left with substantial out-of-pocket expenses.
• Appropriate coverage will reduce the likelihood of paying unnecessarily high premiums.
• Appropriate coverage is often required to comply with regulatory requirements.
  

When is an Insurance Valuation Required?

In some instances, an Insurance Valuation is required for compliance, dependant on the state in which the property resides. In all other cases, Acumentis recommends getting an independent insurance valuation if:

• You have never engaged a Registered Property Valuer to assess your current insurance value
• It has been more than two years since your last independent insurance valuation
• Your asset base has changed through acquisition or downsizing
• You are undertaking an insurance risk assessment
• You are looking to get a building valuation for insurance purposes

Don't wait until it's too late, get on the front foot and prepare now for natural disasters with an Acumentis Insurance Valuation.

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