If your house is burnt down or destroyed, the re-building cost is the complete cost of re-building your home. It will include all the relevant expenses such as demolition, professional fees, materials and labour. The re-building costs are often lower than the market purchase price of your home, because the land cost is included in the house purchase price but not in the re-building costs. However, this is not always the case as re-building and market costs do vary. It is often sensible to obtain an up-to-date valuation from a chartered surveyor to make sure you are insuring your property at the right level. Insurers will index link the building sum insured each year to take account of rising building costs.