Underinsurance is a silent threat. Regular RCAs from a professional, RICS-regulated provider are your best defence.

Resident engagement doesn’t have to be a grand campaign. Sometimes it’s as simple as using a valuation as an opportunity to be visible, helpful, and human.

Property valuation is an important process for anyone involved in buying, selling, or managing property, particularly in the context of flats and leasehold properties.

Relying on outdated valuations, online calculators, or bank estimates often fails to reflect the true reinstatement cost, especially in complex or historic buildings.

Central to the leasehold reform debate is the role of property valuations, which underpin the cost of key transactions such as lease extensions and collective enfranchisement (where leaseholders purchase their building’s freehold).

Choosing between a desktop and onsite reinstatement cost assessment is about more than convenience. It is about protecting your block, fulfilling your legal obligations, and ensuring financial peace of mind.

Stay ahead with timely surveys, professional advice, and a solid understanding of when to act. It is the best way to protect your leaseholders, your building, and your peace of mind.

If your block’s reinstatement cost assessment (RCA) or insurance valuation has not been updated in the last few years, it may no longer reflect current rebuild costs.

Insurance should be a safety net, not a gamble. Make sure your policy is built on solid foundations, not outdated assumptions.

For Residents’ Management Companies, Right to Manage companies, and freeholders, the obligation to insure a leasehold property correctly is a legal duty.

These are the biggest recurring tasks that you need to be aware of that might be due for your building this year.

Throughout 2024, BCH Ltd has observed continued pressure on the flats market, with leaseholders facing rising costs in most areas.

Find out more about reinstatement cost assessments, how to make sure yours is correct, and how they’re utilised by the insurance industry.

There seems to be a lot of confusion between these two terms. We even hear them being used interchangeably- but they’re very different figures, used for very different purposes.

This article will explore the potential legal and financial implications that can arise if a property is damaged beyond repair.

The overall condition of a block, along with its planned maintenance and inspection schedule, play a crucial role in determining the coverage and premium of the required buildings insurance policy.

Here we’ll be discussing why, and how, to avoid the pitfalls of securing appropriate insurance coverage for your block.

With mixed-use developments, it’s vital to understand the effect any commercial units will have on the building’s overall insurance.

When you hear the term ‘reinstatement cost assessment’ most people only consider underinsurance, but what about overinsurance?

The role of Property Manager or Residents’ Management Company (RMC) Director is a varied one, but at the top of a long list of responsibilities you’ll find ‘health and safety compliance’. The safety of your residents and their investment is…

With policy renewal season just round the corner, we thought a reminder of the factors that influence your insurance premiums may be a good idea.

With a squeeze on budgets and the need to keep service charges to a minimum for struggling residents, property managers may well be considering their options for reducing this large expense.

Read on to find out how you can make sure you’re not paying over the odds, without underinsuring the building and putting anyone at risk.

Wanting to lower costs, one area to cut back on is the cost of reinstatement cost assessments – hence rise in popularity of ‘desktop’ RCAs.

It’s your responsibility to choose an accurate, full coverage policy that will pay out correctly should the worst happen.

Zoe Davenport, Appraiser for BCH and leaseholder, writes with a unique perspective on the issue of premiums and insurance valuations.

It would be fair to say that across most industries, a substantial amount has changed in the last 12 months, and indeed the 12 months prior.

Lorna Harrington of BCH discusses a few factors of many, which contribute to the additional costs of reinstating the Listed block.

BCH are proud of how they have responded to challenges of covid lockdown and restricted methods of working.

Joe Goss of Fixflo, discusses the most important assessments and common mistakes block managers make when handling them.

The team from Hamilton Darcey explain the vital importance of accurate RCAs when it comes to insurance claims.

Martyn Barrett of Barrett Corp Harrington, discusses the first two questions policyholders always ask in the event of a claim.

The team at Barrett Corp Harrington discuss the vital responsibility Property Manager’s have to keep their building suitably insured.

Barrett Corp Harrington discusses the issue of the Sum Insured changing after a Reinstatement Cost Assessment (RCA).

The team from Barrett Corp Harrington explain how they are putting Health & Safety at the core of necessary site visits.

Mark Briggs, BCH, considers what might happen to rebuilding costs when normality returns to the building industry.

Martyn Barrett of BCH, reflects on the current situation and its impact in the world of insurance reinstatement cost assessments.

Zoe Davenport from Barrett Corp & Harrington advises on the importance of reinstatement cost assessment reviews.

Lorna Harrington, Director at Barrett, Corp & Harrington, answers one of the most commonly asked questions for the BCH team.

Chris Cooper MRICS MCIArb, Partner at Hamilton Darcey looks at the importance of a reinstatement cost assessment for your building.

All Residents’ Management Companies need to ensure that the requirements set out in their Lease are covered by their blocks insurance policy.

Your Policy schedule will often show two values one referred to as the Declared Value and the other as the Sum Insured.

Paul Robertson looks at who is responsible for setting the sum insured and the impact of the average clause in the event of underinsurance.

The quality of your insurance cover is paramount, but the next most important matter is the accuracy of the buildings sum insured.

A Reinstatement Cost Assessment (RCA) is a professional assessment of what it would cost to rebuild a property if it were destroyed.

There are two main methods used by Insurers to protect policyholders from the effect of inflation during the period of cover.

Of all the valuations involving billions of pounds worth of property, more than 75% of properties are found to be underinsured.

Martin Barsley MRICS MBIFM AaPS of Earl Kendrick Insurance Services advises us on Reinstatement Cost Assessments.

In excess of 77% of all the cases BCH handle, involving billions of pounds worth of property, are found to be underinsured.

Residentsline’s Managing Director, Belinda Thorpe explains how many insurance products for flats and apartments in the UK have evolved.

Lorna Harrington takes a look at some frequently overlooked aspects of block insurance that will impact on the rebuild cost.

If you have to make a major claim against your buildings insurance, VAT will be an important aspect of the rebuild cost, explains Roger Corp.

This is not about avoiding peeping toms, it is making sure that your home, your most valuable asset, is properly protected and fully insured.

We can all remember floods, storms, tornados and some notable fires which brought insurance to the forefront of our minds.