Underinsurance is a big problem affecting Village Halls & Trustees

Underinsurance is a serious problem that affects Halls across the UK. In recent years, the majority of Halls that we had surveyed were found to be undervalued and underinsured, often significantly. This puts both Halls and Trustees at risk because if property assets are found to be underinsured at the time of claim then Trustees may be asked to make up the difference! Trustees can avoid this problem by setting accurate sums insured based on an up-to-date Rebuild Valuation, but many Trustees are unaware of this. That’s why Allied Westminster has been campaigning about this issue for years.

An obvious solution is to have the hall professionally value... but at £500-£800 the cost of a full on-site survey by a RICS Surveyor is simply beyond the reach of many Halls, especially as the Charity Commission recommends that valuations should be repeated on a regular basis.

Our pioneering new initiative is a solution for ALL Halls...

A Rebuild Valuation Report which itemises all property assets of a Hall (main building, outbuildings, car parks, tennis courts, fences, etc.) together with ‘rebuild times’, allowing Trustees to calculate loss of earnings from Hall closure. This allows Trustees full and accurate control over the sum insured they set. These sample Report pages show how detailed the Report is.

The report is FREE to clients of VillageGuard^® who enter a Long-Term Undertaking (LTU - see FAQ 'What is an LTU?'), and heavily subsidised for all other Halls, including Halls which are not yet insured with us.

Our mission is to eliminate under-insurance for all Village Halls across the UK by providing survey solutions which are either free or highly cost-effective.

HOW IT WORKS: Complete and return a simple form (by post or online). Our Surveyors use the form content - together with a deep analysis of other information they can access - to produce a very detailed valuation report without the need for a site visit. Aviva, the underwriter of VillageGuard, guarantees to accept the results of the report for a period of five years, after which you can repeat the exercise. Following receipt of the report, you may need to increase your sum insured which will result in a premium increase. Equally, any decrease in sum insured will result in a lower premium and refund if applicable. At each subsequent renewal, sums insured will be subject to index linking, as with all VillageGuard policies.

In effect, this eliminates the possibility of legal action against Trustees due to buildings under-insurance for a period of five years. We suggest all Halls should be revalued every five years. Halls in an LTU with us can request these five-yearly revaluations FREE of charge.

TO APPLY: Call us for a friendly chat on 01937 845245 or complete one of the forms below.

1. Existing VillageGuard Clients: Download this Rebuild Cost Assessment Request Form, open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (for predictable results), fill it in and then save the file. You can then either email it to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (the preferred method) or print it out and post it to us. You can find our postal address on our Contact Page. (Full instructions at 'FAQ - How do I download and complete the form?'). 

2. New Prospective Clients: Download our Quotation Form, open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (for predictable results), fill it in - including the Rebuild Cost Assessment Request Form at the end - and then save the file. You can then either email it to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (the preferred method) or print it out and post it to us. You can find our postal address on our Contact Page. (Full instructions at 'FAQ - How do I download and complete the form?').