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Hi all, My main contractor's insurance covers the entire build including liability etc but doesn't cover our timber frame kit as we're supplying and paying for this ourselves. Can anyone recommend an insurer that will cover materials only? I've had quotes from Protek and Clear Selfbuild but they cover the entire build including public liability etc etc which I don't need. Any ideas appreciated?

Another daughter, another self build renovation / change of use. Recommendations for what insurance / insurances we need please. It is a barn conversion in SE England. I promise more details when appropriate. Bank of M and D. It has been drifting along at lawyers' pace for many months and suddenly it is time to sign. And suddenly we realise we have to insure it. TOMORROW!! Nobody told us.

Has anyone taken out party wall insurance? We've agreed with our attached neighbour to take this out to give them peace of mind while we build our extension and renovate our house, which is attached to theirs. We have a Party wall Agreement in place with them and they are very amenable. This type of insurance seems like a bit of a niche product" I've got a quote as an add-on to my quote for site insurance from Protek. It doubles the price of the premium and I'm having difficulties getting a clear picture of what it actually covers. Would love to hear if anythone else has bought party wall insurance from other providers and whether as part of site insurance or a separate policy. Many thanks in advance

Hi all - I am about to embark on a build of a new house, to replace my existing, but hit a bump - another bump In a nutshell - I had architect to design, get quotes and (planned to use her for) quote evaluation, contractor selection & sign-up (one main contractor to do full shell and landscape), build control application, and to consult thereafter to support me and builder as we progress. Unfortunately, the architect was taken ill (very ill), so I evaluated the quotes and selected the builder - he comes recommended, and is affable. So getting to my questions (i) Id like to sign a contract, and although he is agreeable, he'd "doesn't think they are worth the paper" - is it the absolute only thing to do? (ii) what sort of contract do we sign - are there templates. Builder was given building control level drawings for quote, his response is marked estimate, and there are some things that may be subject to change/decision (e.g. the lanscaping levels). In a nutshell, I'd like to regularise the relationship as much as possible, without rewriting everything - Im thinking of making sure the less obvious stuff is clear, like what happens if the site is vandalised, payment terms, warranties, etc. Any pointers or contract suggestions, please. Relevant, I guess - I feel my architect is imprtont to my design, and Im really hoping to get her back, so not eager to appoint another - Id rather patch on through, if I can TIA, James PS, I am excited to finally be nearing build stage, in case the above came across as dry & glum!

Hi Many thanks for accepting me into your wise comunity!! I fear I am going to be picking your brains for advice as I have (to me) a difficult challenge plus I have never had to oversee any building work ever! SHORT VERSION: So, where do I start, the original plan was to do a single storey 5m by 4m rear extension (kitchen/diner/lounge bog standard) and a small 3m by 1.5m front extension (extra wc/wet room) to dad's 1963 semi detached 3 bed bunglow (90 feet by 40 feet plot) in a small cul de sac in Stratford upon Avon. Great location, quiet & close to town so extension seems good investment plus quality of life improvement etc etc. However the property is now being monitored for subsidence (studs with inspection pits to follow) due to diagonal cracks, bathroom tiles beng pushed off walls, walls moving off damp course where adjoins property next door (which was piled in 1990 and has moved at least further one inch since!!!) Interestingly, Dad's then Insurance said there was no subsidence on the bungalow in 1989 - instead citing lack of sufficient reinforcement in the lounge floor, which desoite not being an insured peril they paid to be corrected!! I should add that the original buildig work was of a very poor standard - the back corner (lounge) appears to have at least one brick course more than rest of bungalow - I suspect that the1989 insurer focussed on this & fobbed off my trusting Dad with a new lounge floor, anyways......................... So, whilst we await the current Insurance verdict, I am planning the extension and rework of existing kitchen/hall/only bathroom/current lounge/diner) as I hope to be able to combine this with the expected building repairs following subsidence repairs. I have shared this with Dad's current insurers who have indicated this would be possible (caveat of claim progression etc etc) Adjacent & Opposite identical properties secured planning permission for very similar rear & front extensions so I am not envisaging any issues. (never say never) So I have engaged an architect (foll numerous quotes & recommendations) to: Im not planning on a "Grand Designs" statement merely to make the existing property more useable for Dad (88 years). We are fortunate that we can decamp to my house whilst work is carried out. I would be grateful for any suggestions re: "Must Read" guides or books on how to approach a building project - my partner is a project manager (although in automotive) Managing Insurance Claim & additional building projects If you're still with me, Thanks, Michele

Close to completion of ownership, and to getting started. As soon as we own this, we should insure it. We still have to submit the warrant application, and wait for approval before we can convert. But we have some essential maintenance to do to clean out the cow mess, keep the rain out etc. and will get started on pointing the stone where it is important to do so. Plus caravan will be on site. With owning, and doing some work, we must take insurance cover right away. From reading previous correspondence I see recommendations for Zurich, Self-build Zone (part of Build-zone) and Protek. All more expensive than I had hoped. Any other recommendations? And advice always welcome. This will be conversion of stone agricultural to home, for occupation not selling, and currently allowing 18 months (thinking that is not enough) Self-managed. The building is 300m2 on ground and 100m2 upper floor.

My Architectural Engineer and Structural Engineer have both only supplied PDF drawings, and have stated they will not provide editable (.DWG) files that I can use to extract measurements from in order advise suppliers. The former claims it would invalidate his insurance. Should I be relying on the figure in the PDF's? Am I making an unusual request? Has anyone else been able to get such files from their professions? Is my eye for detail not suited to the building trade and should I be relying on measurements taken on the ground (which I can understand when it comes to ordering things that go in holes like windows and doors, but they're not on (or in ) the ground ? )?

We keep having to extend our self build insurance as our project runs on and on, and the cost of it is painful. We're only four weeks away from moving in but our building insurance is due to expire imminently (well, today, to be precise). The electrician is inside doing second fix, and block paving is being laid on the driveway, and landscapers are using diggers and dumpers in the back garden. Does this require an extension on the self-build insurance? The Protek quote is £437 inc vat for 3 months. I could get house insurance for the whole year for not much more than that. If, say, the electrician was to electrocute himself whilst on my house, for example, would he not be covered by his own company's insurance anyway?

We have to store our windows for a short while. They are in a proper warehouse. The insurance cover that comes as part of the storage is poor. I can find lots of insurance quotes for self-storage: but this isn't. Its storage in a warehouse, pending further shipment. I have looked for insurance policies that are suited for this bit of the market: so far I have only found one and it looks to me like a colander. Has anyone faced this issue ? Did you insure your goods in a warehouse (not self-store). I'd be grateful to hear about it. Ian

The house insurance is due for re-newel and the quotes are quite steep. The house is structurally complete, wind and watertight, 50% plasterboarded and just needs bathrooms and kitchen fitted and it will be finished. The reasons the quotes are high it seems is because I am not using contracts people to do the work and using their liability insurance. What have people done in these circumstances? The company I used last year no longer deals with this type of insurance and some of the quotes are ridiculous. I have used Quoterack this morning to see what they come back with and tried Adrian Flux yesterday and their quote was silly money when all of the structural work has been completed. TIA

I will have several months left of my build insurance if all goes according to plan. I thought that was dead and lost once sign off takes place but I read an article on line - one of the build magazine e-mails which I cannot now find again - which said that the construction self build policy would transfer to a temporary buildings cover for the house for the remainder of the policy. I will ring Buildzone next week and ask again (they told me it would be lost on completion) but I wondered if anyone had achieved this transfer to a regular cover.

Thought it might be useful to detail an accident that happened on our site during the main construction if only to prevent others from having a similar issue. I'm sure that we must have done some things wrong here, but there were others to blame in this tale too, and the events that unfolded seemed very bizarre to me. We used a registered scaffolding company to hire the scaffolding from and this was erected in August 2009. It was used for several months to do all of the main construction work and then towards the end of its time here someone fell off it. We used a particular builder to do all of the timber frame work, he supplied his own workers, and we paid him (and only him), in cash as he requested. We never paid any money directly to his team members. Towards the end of 2009 he sent a new guy here to do some work on the soffits and he arrived along with one of the regular team (the boss wasn't on site that day which wasn't that unusual as it was often just members of his team). The OH was living in a caravan on site at that time so greeted the 2 guys, one of whom he knew quite well as he had been working here for several months. He offered them tea and bacon rolls as he tended to do most mornings and went into the caravan to sort that out. About 10 minutes after they arrived there was a shout and the new guy had apparently fallen from the first level of the scaffolding landing on his arse (see photo to see the height of the first platform for reference). His co worker hadn't seen him fall and nor had my hubby who was in the caravan at the time. He was lying on the ground so my hubby called an ambulance. He said that the guy then got up, staggered to his car, put on his hi vis jacket and hard hat and sat in his car. When the ambulance arrived they suggested that he shouldn't have got into his car, and that they might get the fire brigade out to remove the roof in case he had damaged his neck. The guy refused their help at that point, said he wasn't having his car wrecked, and drove home. My husband reported the accident to the scaffolding company whereupon the owner drove to the site and attached an insurance certificate to the scaffolding dated that day. He said that the scaffolding wasn't signed off to use prior to that date even though it was hired back in August, several months before and had been used pretty much daily. Clearly he hadn't insured the site as he should have done. Health and Safety came to the site too and declared that some 'clips' were missing from the scaffolding, and put a notice on it declaring it not to be used. The scaffolding company came and put the clips on and it was then signed off as able to be used again. Apparently later that day the guy who fell off went to A&E and declared that he had hurt himself badly. He then engaged a no win no fee solicitor and took himself off to Australia to 'convalesce' or so he claimed. We reported the accident to our insurance company, and stated that the worker had been supplied by the contractor who was erecting the timber frame, and the scaffolding was supplied by the registered scaffolding company. The first issue we had was that the builder denied having supplied the worker. This left us with an issue as our insurance company said that we couldn't prove that the worker came via the main builder, and nor could we prove that we hadn't employed him direct. The scaffolding company collected the scaffolding and put themselves into liquidation meaning that the no win no fee lawyer came after us. My husband had to make statements and years later it was still going on with any settlement the insurance company was prepared to make reducing as time went on. It all seemed quite bizarre to us however that it was our insurance cover that was being claimed against when there were 2 other parties involved. In hindsight we should probably have taken a register of every person on site and who they were supplied from, and required every worker to sign in when they attended. We possibly should have known that scaffolding had to have an insurance certificate attached to it, but we believed that hiring from a registered company would have meant that we were completely covered as they would do the right things. Ironically my husband had refused to hire the scaffolding from anywhere other than a registered scaffold company in order to comply with H&S, but ultimately it did us no good!

In case this is helpful to anyone we have just sorted out our site insurance. We got quotes from (with the actual insurance company in brackets): Buildstore (Catlin Insurance company) Buildzone (EC Insurance) Protek (QBE Europe) Self Build Insurance (Zurich) Self Build Insurance (Zurich) were almost 30% cheaper than the other 3 so definitely worth a call. We have gone for 24 months as it seems that lots of people on here end up having to renew half way through and premiums can be hiked at that point. Hope we don't need to use it. And hope we get it finished within 24 months.....we are starting tomorrow with knocking down our garage and will attempt to finally locate our water supply (where Thames Water, a diviner and alot of hand digging has failed hopefully a digger bucket will do the job ) .

Hi, Site insurance due for renewal on 25/10/17. Last year a 12mth policy cost £590. This was with Selfbuild Insurance - Godalming. Policy actually with Zurich. What are others paying? Anyone with a suggestion regarding alternative brokers. Need to get the renewal done by Wednesdayvreally. Cheers CC

If you haven't read the backstory, it's here. and an analysis of what happened is here Quick Summary One turbulent night a little while ago, our wall blew down during a newbuild. It was unlucky: just the wrong weather at just the wrong moment. Our builder says that there was no guidance on the ICF producer's website. Verbally , the MD implied that the builder lacked common sense in building so high without pouring to stabilise the build. The production company give no specific guidance on how high to build before pouring or propping. The Loss Adjuster visited last week, and today, the Insurance company has sent me this email: in brief, it's the builder's fault. He should have braced the build,or poured. Here, verbatim (anonymised) is the response from the Loss adjuster. Following a review of our Surveyors report I note that the blocks had been dry stacked. The builder appears to have laid out too many course of block, without being filled with concrete or propped in the interim whilst await the concrete pour. Our Surveyor states that the safe working method would be prop any loose block work when dry stacked and that this ought to have been done until the concrete was poured. The policy provides cover on an All Risks basis, subject to certain exclusions. One such exclusion has material relevance to the claim at hand:- 7 Defective Property Loss of or damage to and the costs necessary to replace, repair or rectify the Insured Property: a) which is in a defective condition due to a defect in design, plan, specification, materials or workmanship of which Insured Property or any part thereof Based on the information available to us the only reasonable conclusion is that the wall would not have collapsed had in been propped. Following my verbal explanation as to the lack of policy cover available you advised that further information will be made available to support the claim, specifically weather records from Cambridge (sic!) University confirming a gust of 70mph was responsible for the wall being blown down and a time lapse video to show the wall had been built correctly. Ok, folks if this had happened to you, what would you do next?

I'm looking for any suggestions on insurers who can provide site insurance... can anyone help? My mortgage provider requires me to have site insurance during my build. I got rather shafted by Buildstore and have had various issues with them so it would massively pain me to give them any more money! Can anyone suggest someone who other that Buildstore that provides this insurance at a reasonable price? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

My current specialist household insurance runs out soon and I need a new policy. The current insurance covers the old house, now being demolished, the cabin we are living in, two shipping containers full of furniture etc, a digger, contents of a garage and shed and a sit on mower etc. Very soon we will start the new build, which will be done in work packages, with each package clearly defined, so that I can leave the various contractors to do their bit. So what type of insurance do I need to cover the above?

What have you guys covered yourselves for under site insurance? Below is a list of the items I need to consider, but I'm not really sure whether I need cover, nor at what level, for things like hired plant. The property will be an MBC timber frame with groundworks done by an external company and we don't live on site. I'm intending doing as little of the work myself as possible! Owned Plant - £0.00 Hired Plant - £0.00 Caravans & Site Huts - £0.00 Contents of Caravans & Site Huts - £0.00 Personal Possessions – Up to £5,000.00 Personal Accident - Up to £20,000.00 Bone Fracture – Up to £400.00 Employers Liability – Up to £10m Public Liability - £5,000,000.00 Products Liability - £5,000,000.00

There have been a couple of questions about insurance .. One about working as a handyman, the other about insuring the contents of containers. I am wondering whether there are ways around this using other policies or memberships. e.g. is there a professional membership of say a Trade Union or Professional Body which covers doing small jobs, or routes to get storage containers covered. One possibility for the latter is household insurance covering sheds if you are building in your own garden. Any other suggestions? Ferdinand