
Reinstatement Valuation
What is a Reinstatement Cost Valuation?
A Reinstatement Cost Valuation is an insurance-related document that is necessary when you want to either apply for a mortgage or obtain insurance for your home’s contents. Why is it necessary? Because lenders and insurers want to know that, in the event of a total loss, how much your home could be rebuilt to its current specs.
In conclusion, determining how much it would cost to bring your house back to its original condition is a specialised, necessary computation. If your house were to be destroyed, say, in a fire or storm, you would need that figure to help ensure that there is no shortfall between what you need to spend on rebuild and what insurers thought your house was worth.
To ensure the insurance reinstatement valuation is accurate, it should be checked by a valuation expert who is a professionally registered as a Chartered Surveyor within RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). Their valuation must then be thoroughly assessed and accompanied by a complete and understandable presentation of the valuation using the BCIS (Building Cost Information Service) tables of RICS.
How Is Reinstatement Cost Valuation Done?
The costs of property insurance associated with the repair or replacement of your home are determined in a way that is not at all similar to how your home is valued on the market – many factors go into estimating potential costs, which can range dramatically. Some of the factors whose potential cost impacts might be included in an estimate are:
- Property age: older buildings (or Listed Buildings) often present a special challenge in terms of how to restore or rebuild a property where the original materials are not available.
- Geography: if the property is at a particular location on earth, material and labour costs will affect it.
- Location: this clearly affects the price of a property, and a conservation area will also have an effect.
- Complexity: if the residence is close to a main road, or if the removal of the building is burdened with restrictions (such as the requirement of road closures), a local authority might opt to charge a fee.
- Asbestos: if asbestos is found, it must be taken out and replaced.
You should have a full replacement cost evaluation done on your property every three years or if something significantly changes with the property. That way, you can ensure that your insurance holds up to its name—that it is insurance for the year in which you would have been made whole, had you lost the place – if you’ve just purchased a home, your mortgage lender likely required a valuation that stated a “reinstatement cost” for the house.
Both you and the lender should believe that valuation, but you should also get a repeat valuation at some regular interval so that you can trust that your insurance policy is indeed a replacement-cost policy.
Differences between Market Value & Insurance Reinstatement
The rebuild cost and the market value of your home typically overlap, but they are different and independent calculations, the market value of your home can inflate or deflate based on a number of factors most of which have little to do with your home’s actual physical characteristics or its replacement cost. These factors include location (employers often drive up local markets), the perceived quality of the local public education system, and even quasi-legal issues like zoning.
The reinstatement cost strictly concerns what it would take to replace the whole structure in the event of a total loss, ensuring that it is put back into the state it was in prior to the loss.
Get a Reinstatement Cost Valuation in Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham, Kingston & Cardiff
To get a suitable insurance cover, to pay the right premiums, and to be sure of having the correct coverage, you will need a reinstatement valuation from a professional. This must be arranged so you get the right figure for the amount of cover that would actually perform in the circumstances described, should something terribly unfortunate occur.

Surveys of Commercial Property
If you’re thinking of acquiring, leasing, subletting, disposing of, or altering commercial premises in Manchester, you would be well advised to locate a surveyor skilled in the nuances of commercial building surveying – should you spot a defect in a commercial building you can use that information to negotiate an asking price for the property that’s considerably lower than what the seller originally wanted, or you can talk your way out of a bad deal altogether.
Our Manchester-based team of RICS-compliant commercial building surveyors is equipped to handle matters throughout Manchester.
Contact
Our team prioritizes client care above all else. We look forward to being in touch with you so you can instruct a surveyor in Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham or Cardiff. You can reach out to us easily. Just fill out our form, and we’ll get back to you with a free quote for your survey. All our surveyors are qualified as members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and we are one of the UK’s leading providers of building survey and valuation services:
- Accredited Professionals: Certified by organizations like RICS, CIOB, and RPSA.
- Customized Survey Reports: inspections to meet your specific requirements.
- Local Expertise: Deep understanding and specialized knowledge.
- Expert Guidance: Professional recommendations and support.
The property survey you commission will be carried out by an accredited professional. Your chartered surveyor will be a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), or will belong to some other industry-standard professional body. Rest assured; you will receive highest quality of professional service for your survey.