What is your sum insured?
Your sum insured
Your sum insured should be the estimated maximum amount it would cost to repair or rebuild your home if it was damaged or destroyed. It needs to include costs for things like fences, driveways, demolition, debris removal, compliance, professional fees and GST.
Regularly check your cover
It's your responsibility to check your sum insured is up-to-date and reflects the costs of repairing or rebuilding your home. Please regularly review your cover, and especially at renewal and any time you make changes to your home.
Use the sum insured calculator
The Cordell Sum Sure calculator is a simple, free way to get an estimated figure of the cost to rebuild your home based on construction costs, allowances for professional fees, demolition, removal of debris, special features and GST considerations.
Your cover and basis of settlement
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Sum insured replacement
If your home is damaged or destroyed, we'll pay the costs to repair or rebuild your home up to your total sum insured, minus any applicable excess. -
Replacement
If your home is damaged or destroyed by fire or an explosion, we'll pay the costs to repair or rebuild your home up to the same floor area - even if it ends up costing more than your home sum insured, minus any applicable excess.To qualify for Replacement cover, you can check the Cordell Sum Sure calculator and choose a sum insured that's equal to or greater than the Cordell Sum Sure Estimate for your home. You can also give us a call if you'd like more information about Replacement cover or how to qualify.
Limits still apply to certain items. Please refer to your policy wording for the full details as well as exclusions and other terms.
Things to consider
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Sum insured adjustment
We may adjust your sum insured at renewal to factor in changes in building and repair costs. However, you know your home best. The adjustment we make to your sum insured doesn't account for your unique situation, including any changes you've made to your home, or the accuracy of your chosen sum insured when your policy began. -
Inflation
The Cordell Sum Sure calculator doesn't take into consideration future changes to building costs (i.e. inflation) over your policy period, so if you want to include an allowance for this in your sum insured, you'll need to add it to the estimate generated by the calculator. -
Professional help
If you would like professional advice on an estimate to rebuild your home, you can consult with a registered property valuer or quantity surveyor.
More information
What sum insured is
- Your sum insured should be the estimated maximum amount it would cost to repair or rebuild your home if it was damaged or destroyed. It needs to include costs for things like fences, driveways, demolition, debris removal, compliance, professional fees and GST.
- An amount that covers materials and labour as well as costs like demolition, consents and other fees.
- An amount you need to choose.
- Something which you can update at any time, not just at policy renewal.
What your sum insured isn't
- It's not the rateable value (RV) or capital value (CV) of your home.
- It's not the market value or the price you paid for your home.
- It's not the value of the land.
- It's not automatically inclusive of items such as wharfs, piers, landings or jetties, or cable cars on your property - you may need additional cover for these.
- It's not automatically inclusive of items that cost more to repair or rebuild than the limits shown in the policy wording - you may need additional cover for retaining walls, swimming pools, bridges, culverts, fords or dams.
What your sum insured should account for
- The floor area of your home
- Your home's design: villa, bungalow, contemporary and one-off architectural
- Fixtures and fittings (i.e. benchtops, taps, cupboards, lighting and flooring)
- Fixed floor coverings (like carpet)
- Quality of materials and finish
- Number of levels
- Outbuildings such as detached garages, sheds, carports and granny flats
- Permanently constructed driveways and paths, decks and fences
- Land slope
- Demolition costs and debris removal
- Council consents, and local authority fees
- Design, engineers' and other professional fees
- Labour and construction costs
- Construction materials
- Tennis courts
- Swimming pools, retaining walls, bridges, culverts, permanent fords and dams - check the limits in the policy wording to see if you need to note any of these separately as a special feature with a special feature sum insured
- Wells and boreholes including their pumps, linings and casings used primarily for domestic purposes
- Private utility plant and associated equipment, such as wind and water mills, and diesel generators used primarily for domestic purposes.
More about Cordell Sum Sure
- The Cordell Sum Sure Estimate is intended as a guide only based on current costs. It does not take into account individual design features, site specific conditions, structural conditions and materials, local planning laws or any other regulations and may not be suitable for your particular circumstances. The Cordell Sum Sure Estimate is an indicative guide only and must not be relied upon as an accurate representation of the costs associated with rebuilding your property or in lieu of appropriate professional advice.
- For a more detailed estimate of what your sum insured amount could be, please use the Cordell Sum Sure calculator. This tool is pre-populated with certain information but allows you to make adjustments and select the details which most accurately reflect your home. It has options to include features of your home such as retaining walls, permanently fixed swimming pools, fixed spa pools and tennis courts, which are not reflected in the Cordell Sum Sure Estimate.
- NOTE: The following home features are not included in Cordell Sum Sure Estimate OR the calculator:
- Cable cars or their associated equipment
- Wharfs, piers, landings or jetties
- Private utility plants and associated equipment, such as wind and water mills, and diesel generators
- Bridges, culverts, permanent fords or dams
- Wells and boreholes, including their pumps, linings and casings
Tips for using the Cordell Sum Sure calculator:
- If your address can't be found and it includes a unit number (e.g. 23a), try different variations (e.g. 1/23, 23/1). If your address still can't be found, Cordell may not have details of the property, it may be a new subdivision, or the calculator is not suitable for the property at that address.
- Don't worry if the photograph doesn't match your house. The photograph might be different (e.g. your house is brand new, or there is an old photo, a boundary photo or street front photo), but the property details are based on the address not the photo.
- The calculator assumes an average floor area for any garages, sheds or pool houses/sleepouts, so if you have a particularly large, detached building you might want to select a sum insured higher than the estimate the calculator provides.
- If you're in the Canterbury area and your property has been identified as having a CERA technical category rating (foundation requirements), then an allowance will have been made for this. This is indicative-only and you should seek specific engineering advice for a reliable estimate of any costs.
Important to remember:
- The Cordell Sum Sure calculator provides an estimated sum insured for your home, but it is a guide only. You must make your own decisions on the sum insured that is appropriate for your circumstances. If you think your amount is not correct, you can change it online now.
- If your home has significant special features and fittings, was built to a superior standard, is very large or has a high value, or if you're unsure what to enter in the calculator, please consider contacting a registered property valuer or quantity surveyor who can provide a qualified opinion on your home rebuild costs.
The Cordell Sum Sure calculator is an independent tool. The information it provides is general information, is not a recommendation, opinion or guidance, does not provide any advice or opinion on the extent or adequacy of the cover provided by sum insured insurance, is not financial advice and does not take into account your particular situation.
This calculator has been customised for ASB, so it's important that you use the calculator provided by your insurer. The ASB Cordell Sum Sure calculator adds GST to the estimate it produces because your ASB sum insured is an amount which needs to include GST.
We may use the Cordell Sum Sure calculator to provide us with data about your property, for example the slope of land, roof and wall construction, and number of storeys in the home. It is your responsibility to tell us if you think the information is incorrect.
Get started today
1. Calculate
Find out how much it would cost to rebuild your home. Calculate now.
2. Quote or update
Get a quote for a new policy or update an existing policy online.
3. Accept
Accept the quote and we'll put your cover in place or confirm the changes to your policy.
4. Update
If something changes that might affect your insurance, you can make change online.
The availability of insurance cover is subject to your application being approved. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. For full details, refer to the policy wording. This insurance is underwritten by IAG New Zealand Limited (IAG). See further information regarding IAG's financial strength rating. The calculator is provided by Cordell, a CoreLogic business. Your use of the Cordell Sum Sure calculator is authorised on the condition that CoreLogic, ASB and IAG (and their related companies) do not warrant the accuracy, currency or completeness of the estimated reconstruction cost and do not have any liability of any kind for any loss or damage howsoever arising (including through negligence) in connection with your use of the Cordell Sum Sure calculator.