A study of commercial property insurance policies in the East Midlands recently revealed that 96 per cent of buildings in the region were underinsured.
Many of the buildings studied were insured for far less than it would cost to completely rebuild them. In fact, the commercial property owners involved in the report needed to increase the amount their buildings were insured for by an average of 73 per cent.
Reacting to the news, Mike Dickinson, of insurance brokers Russell Scanlan, has advised all commercial property owners to review their insurance policies every year.
He told constructionnewsportal.com: "Many people believe that, because of the sluggish economy, their property is unlikely to have gone up in value. That's actually not the issue as insurance policies are concerned with the re-building cost of the property, rather than the market value.
"An insurance review, may, in the short term, lead to a slight increase in premium and the need for a professional valuation - but that's a small price to pay in the long term."
The study follows a separate report from insurance providers ACE, which suggested that over a third of commercial property owners haven't properly insured their building against the risk of terrorism or political violence. According to marketwatch.com, more than a third of these owners falsely believed they were covered against these threats.
Written by Joe Elvin on behalf of Qube Global Software
While posted by Qube Global Software all views expressed are not necessarily those of the company. All facts are verified where possible directly by the author.