Insurance companies have to date adopted the position that they will not pay professional fees associated with rebuilding a house unless those fees are actually incurred.  Southern Response particularly regards them as “additional costs”  and not part of the “rebuild cost”.  In McLean & ors  v IAG New Zealand Ltd [2013] NZHC 1105 the High Court (Whata J) decided that “professional fees” were necessarily incurred as part of a rebuild.  It did not matter that the costs were not incurred.  The costs were part of the calculation of the rebuild costs.