Insurance Claims and Reinstatement
From the loss to the final account. We specify, procure and administer the reinstatement of insured buildings, with every pound traceable for the loss adjuster.
Overview
When a building is damaged by fire, escape of water, subsidence or impact, the claim becomes a construction project. The cause has to be established, the scope agreed with the loss adjuster, the works specified and tendered, and the reinstatement administered through to completion.
Why it matters
Insurance reinstatement fails in the gaps between advisers. When the diagnosis, the agreed scope, the tender and the contract are handled by different people, the client ends up caught between what the insurer agreed and what the contractor built. One practice keeps the claim, the cost and the construction telling the same story.
Cause Established
Investigation before opinion: trial pits, testing, monitoring and specialist reports where the peril calls for them.
Scope Agreed
A specification itemised so the loss adjuster can scrutinise and agree it line by line before tender.
Reinstatement Delivered
Tendered, let under JCT and administered through to practical completion and an agreed final account.
What you receive
- Investigation and reporting on the cause and extent of the damage.
- A reinstatement specification and cost breakdown for the loss adjuster to agree.
- A competitive tender and a JCT contract let for the works.
- Contract Administration with inspections, interim certificates and a dated photographic record.
- Party wall and Principal Designer duties where the works require them.
- Reinstatement cost assessments, so the sum insured is right before a loss occurs.
Who it is for
Building owners, freeholders and managing agents with a claim in progress, and insurers and loss adjusters who need a surveyor to deliver the reinstatement, across London, the South East and the East of England.
We work from a single flat to a total loss, on residential blocks, houses and commercial premises.
The RICS standard
Reinstatement cost assessment of buildings
RICS professional standard, 3rd edition, reissued 19 June 2024
Appointment: RICS Reinstatement Cost Assessment Services, and Building Surveyor Services for insurance work, under the RICS Short Form of Consultant’s Appointment for Designated Services. Where the reinstatement is let as a building contract, Contract Administration Services under the RICS Standard or Short Form.
A reinstatement cost assessment establishes what it would cost to rebuild a building after a total loss: the figure the buildings sum insured should be based on. It is not the market value. It is the cost of demolition, site clearance and rebuilding to the same design and specification, with the professional and statutory fees that go with it.
If the sum insured is too low, most policies apply an average clause that reduces every claim, not only a total loss, in proportion to the shortfall. A properly prepared assessment protects the owner and, in blocks of flats, the leaseholders who pay the premium.
“intended as a guide for surveyors who carry out reinstatement cost assessments”
RICS, Reinstatement cost assessment of buildings
Key terms
- Reinstatement cost
- The cost of rebuilding the property after a total loss, as distinct from its market value.
- Sum insured
- The figure the policy covers, which should reflect the reinstatement cost.
- Underinsurance and average
- Where the sum insured is too low, a claim may be reduced in proportion to the shortfall.
- Day one value
- The reinstatement cost at the start of the policy, used with day one cover so inflation during the policy and rebuild is allowed for separately.
- Professional and statutory fees
- The design, surveying and engineering fees, and planning and Building Regulations charges, needed to rebuild.
How this maps to your RICS appointment
Insurance work is appointed under the insurance section of RICS Building Surveyor Services, with reinstatement cost assessments under RICS Reinstatement Cost Assessment Services. The headings below follow the RICS Building Surveyor Services schedule, used with the RICS Short Form of Consultant’s Appointment for Designated Services, so the services you see here are the services you tick in your appointment.
Insurance claims
The loss adjuster notified, the policy checked, the damage inspected and recorded, and any temporary or emergency works identified.
Consents and estimates
Statutory consents advised on and the cost of repairs estimated for approval.
Claim management
The claim prepared, submitted, administered and negotiated.
Insurance assessments
Existing or proposed cover reviewed and the level of cover advised.
Reinstatement cost
Replacement cost calculated in line with RICS Reinstatement Cost Assessment Services.
Case studies
5 strands
Subsidence proved, then repaired
Two houses on London Clay near a mature poplar. Trial pits, soil testing, root identification, an arboricultural report and level monitoring, all before any repair was specified.
Total loss
A fire claim delivered as a project
A commercial unit in east London taken from demolition through party wall, design and tender to an administered reinstatement.
2 flats
Escape of water, one evidence chain
Both flats in an Essex block reinstated under one contract, from an adjuster agreed specification to the final certificate.
Our insurance work runs from a single damaged flat to the rebuilding of a total loss. See all case studies
Avalon Surveyors Ltd is regulated by RICS and has been in continuous practice since 2000. Reinstatement cost assessments are prepared in line with the RICS professional standard Reinstatement cost assessment of buildings.
Discuss an insurance claim
Tell us about the building, the damage and where the claim has reached, and we will come back to you within two business days.