Almost three quarters of commercial buildings with sums insured of £500,000 or less are underinsured, according to new data from RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com.
Analysis of the findings of almost 4,000 rebuild cost assessments carried out by Insurtech start up RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com also revealed that while underinsurance becomes less likely as sums insured increase, the overall picture is one of widespread inadequacy of cover.
“Our data provides a useful heads up to insurers and brokers in terms of where they are likely to find a greater risk of underinsurance within their portfolios,” said Trevor Smith, Director of RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com.
“Most insurers and brokers are already aware that on average buildings are between 30% and 40% underinsured, but with the fresh insights our real time data analysis provides we can identify where the hotspots are to help the insurance industry take more targeted action.”
Trevor added: “For example, we can confirm that underinsurance is more likely when the current sums insured are relatively low. We’ve found that 73% of buildings with current sums insured of up to £500,000 are underinsured, as are 71% of buildings with sums insured of between £500,000 and £1m.
“However, it's worth noting that while the percentages improve as sums insured go up, we are still uncovering widespread underinsurance, and as we get over £2m things actually begin to deteriorate slightly.”
Here are the complete findings:
Trevor went on to say: “We are working with underwriters to help the insurance industry target resources for tackling underinsurance. The consequences for policyholders of being underinsured can be severely damaging and we want to do everything we can to help eradicate this issue.”
As well as offering reliable desktop based rebuild cost assessments, RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com also delivers highly competitive site based assessments. Sign up for a broker account today or contact us for further information.