Under this policy, the insured and the insurance company agree on the sum insured, and the company agrees to rebuild or repair the house up to that limit, including all the fees involved, if it is totally destroyed. It’s important that you understand what your home’s Sum Insured covers, what it doesn’t, and what you may need to do when your home policy is due for renewal.

Always make sure your sum insured cover is up to date

• Your sum insured should not be based on the market or rateable value of your house.
• It’s important your home’s sum insured amount reflects the potential cost of rebuilding your home as accurately as possible. If your house is ever destroyed, your insurer will pay no more than the sum insured amount you’d previously agreed — even if the actual cost of rebuilding your home turns out to be more.
• You’re responsible for determining your sum insured.
• If you set your sum insured amount too low and you need to repair or rebuild your house, you may have to rebuild to a lesser size or quality or pay for some of the work yourself.
• If you set your sum insured amount too high, you may be paying too much for your home insurance — if the cost of rebuilding your home turns out to be less than the sum insured, policies don’t require insurers to pay more than the actual cost of rebuilding.
• You can use the sum insured calculator on your insurer’s website to calculate the replacement cost of your home. For more complex property you may wish to get a valuer or quantity surveyor to provide a replacement valuation for your home.
• You should review your sum insured regularly to ensure you have the right amount of cover.
   

Check the rest of your policy schedule regularly

• Your policy schedule will be sent to you every year as part of your policy’s renewal. It contains the information your insurer has about your home.
• You should always check this information to make sure it’s correct and up-to-date. For example, if your home includes extensive retaining walls, you should check if these are noted on your Policy Schedule.
• If you have made improvements to your home since you took out or renewed your policy, you should inform your insurer and decide whether you need to increase your home’s sum insured to reflect the improvements.
• From time to time, your insurer may make adjustments to the excesses payable at claim time or introduce new excesses. It pays to check the information that comes with your policy renewal for information about these.
   

Retaining walls and recreational features

Retaining walls and recreational features (permanently fixed outdoor items built for the purposes of recreation, such as swimming pools, spa pools and tennis courts) may have limited cover under your policy. This is called a policy sub-limit or a cover limit.

• If the likely cost of rebuilding these is more than the cover provided automatically by your policy, you may wish to specify these on your policy and purchase additional cover. Your home’s Sum Insured will increase accordingly, as will the premium you pay for your house cover.
• Some policies no longer provide any level of cover for these features. In this case, you’ll need to decide whether to purchase additional cover so your recreational features and/or retaining walls are protected.
   

Other special features

Special features are not automatically covered under most house policies. If you require cover for special features, you’ll need to talk to your insurance provider and this will likely affect the premium payable for your home cover.

Special features excluded from your standard house policy may include

• jetties
• wharves
• private landings or airstrips
• permanent fords or dams
• bridges and culverts
• cable cars
• private utility plants (such as windmills, water mills or diesel generators).
   

Fixed floor coverings

Fixed floor coverings, such as fitted carpets, are generally included in home policies (rather than contents policies), although some policies still include carpets under contents. Check with your insurer whether this is the case for your policy. If it is, include an amount for them in your Sum Insured. If you have home and contents policies with different insurers you could end up with no cover or duplicated cover for your carpets. If this happens, ask your insurer about the Insurance Council’s carpets agreement.

If your house is destroyed, the insurance company will rebuild or repair it up to the number of square metres insured and pay all the fees involved in the process (including architect’s fees, labour and site clearance fees).

You will be covered for what your house was worth just before the loss. Your insurer will rebuild or repair your house up to that limit.