Insurance & Reinstatement

McLean Gladstone provides essential property valuation services for insurance purposes across South Australia, ensuring your assets are adequately protected against unforeseen events. As an independent property valuer and certified property valuer, we specialise in reinstatement valuations for a diverse range of property types, from strata and community title groups to individual houses, commercial properties, retail spaces, rural holdings, and specialised assets like hotels and boutique accommodation.
 

The Critical Role of a Reinstatement Valuation: A reinstatement valuation, also known as a rebuilding cost or sum insured valuation, is crucial for property owners to accurately advise their insurance company of the total sum needed for their building's insurance. This assessment determines the cost of reconstructing a property in the event of destruction, covering not just the physical rebuild but also incidental costs. Many property owners neglect to calculate the actual rebuilding cost, leading to potential under-insurance. It's vital to remember that the responsibility for the correct sum insured rests with the policyholder, not the insurer or broker.
 

The Dangers of Under-insurance and Co-insurance: Under-insurance is a significant concern, especially for strata corporations, as it can result in the insurer paying only a portion of the replacement cost, with the shortfall potentially being paid by the owners. This risk is often compounded by co-insurance clauses in policies. A co-insurance clause means that if your property is insured for less than a specified percentage (e.g., 80% or 90%) of its actual replacement value, the insurer will only pay a proportion of your loss, even if the loss is less than the sum insured. For example, if your property should be insured for $1,000,000 but you only insure it for $500,000 (50% of its value), and your policy has an 80% co-insurance clause, the insurer might only pay 50%/80% = 62.5% of any loss, leaving you with a substantial financial burden. This highlights why an accurate, up-to-date reinstatement valuation is paramount to avoid severe financial penalties in the event of a claim.
 

Compliance and Frequency: Our building insurance valuations comply with the required Community and Strata Titles Act 2012, which mandates that reports state the full cost of replacing buildings or improvements with new materials, and cover incidental costs such as demolition, site clearance, and professional fees. While legally required every five years, the unpredictable nature of price changes in the building industry means that the majority of our clients request a valuation once every three years to protect against potential loss from under-insurance. We also offer yearly reports to account for annual inflation of building and professional costs.
 

What Our Comprehensive Reports Include: Our detailed property valuation for insurance purposes reports specify the particular components essential for accurate coverage, including:

• Demolition costs

• Council and other professional fees

• Escalation in construction costs

• GST

• Replacement costs of services/structures

• A minimum catastrophe cover allowance
   

Specialised Valuations for All Property Types:

• Strata and Community Title Groups: We provide expert building insurance valuations for multi-unit complexes, ensuring common property and individual units are adequately covered as per legislative requirements. McLean Gladstone is the preferred valuer for the majority of strata and community managers in South Australia, a testament to our reliability and expertise in this specialised sector.

• Individual Houses: For homeowners, our home insurance valuation and house rebuild valuation services ensure your primary residence is protected, preventing under-insurance, especially after significant changes like building or refurbishing.

• Commercial and Retail Properties: Our commercial building valuation for insurance and commercial property insurance valuation services cover a wide range of business premises, from small retail spaces to large industrial facilities, ensuring accurate reinstatement values for your business assets.

• Rural Properties: We understand the unique construction and replacement costs associated with rural property valuation for insurance, including farm buildings, sheds, and other improvements.

• Specific Property Types (Hotels, Boutique Accommodation, Airbnb): For specialised commercial properties like hotels, boutique accommodation, and Airbnb properties, our commercial property valuer team focuses on the physical reinstatement cost of the structures, ensuring comprehensive property insurance valuation that accounts for their unique design and features.
   

Why Choose McLean Gladstone for Your Insurance Valuations? With more than 70 years of experience, McLean Gladstone offers unparalleled expertise in property insurance valuation across South Australia. We are an SA-based firm with a deep understanding of the local market, enabling us to provide accurate reports based on both location and your specific property to ensure you get the house valuation for insurance purposes or commercial property valuation for insurance purposes you deserve. Getting your home valuation for insurance before taking out a policy is the best way to prevent under-insurance, and regular valuations after significant changes ensure your insurance remains up-to-date. Our local property valuer team provides reliable and accurate insurance reinstatement valuation services with efficient turnaround times, often within 48 hours for residential properties.
 

Contact McLean Gladstone, your trusted property valuer near you in Adelaide and broader South Australia, for expert advice and reliable valuation services that protect your investment.