Moving from self-build insurance to standard house insurance

[jamieled]

Finally a completion certificate is in sight for us. Up until now I've been using self build/site insurance but will need to sort normal house and contents insurance. When I've done this in the past I recall being asked for the house value and rebuild value to get the insurance quote. I think (but could be wrong) I got these from the home report but that obviously doesn't apply here.

 

For any self builders who've transitioned to normal house insurance at the end of a build, do you need to get the place valued by a surveyor or is there another way? I don't want to end up under or over-estimating it myself and the actual build cost is probably not representative of what it would cost to rebuild.

[ProDave]

As a self builder I had a pretty good idea of what it cost to build.  I then added on the estimated £50K I had saved by doing so much work myself, and then added on the professional (architects etc) fees I had left off my "build cost". Then a guestimate of £10K for demolishing and clearing a ruined building before rebuild. And then added 10% to the total for good measure.  That produced a figure quite a lot higher than the market value of the house, but that seems quite normal here.

 

[nod]

1 hour ago, jamieled said:

Finally a completion certificate is in sight for us. Up until now I've been using self build/site insurance but will need to sort normal house and contents insurance. When I've done this in the past I recall being asked for the house value and rebuild value to get the insurance quote. I think (but could be wrong) I got these from the home report but that obviously doesn't apply here.

 

For any self builders who've transitioned to normal house insurance at the end of a build, do you need to get the place valued by a surveyor or is there another way? I don't want to end up under or over-estimating it myself and the actual build cost is probably not representative of what it would cost to rebuild.

We just used our best guess for a total rebuild 

Quite a bit less than the actual value of the house 

As the land usually makes up a third of the market value 

Contents is toted up as normal 

[jamieled]

Cheers both. Are you estimating market value yourself using nearby houses or another way?

 

We have land additional to the house which is separately insured but it was all bought as one. Assuming I could just look at local plot values to roughly figure out a plot cost from the wider land cost (in order to estimate market value).

[Drew1000]

When we re-mortgaged  from a self build loan to a normal mortgage on completion the mortgage company insisted on sending a valuer out to assess the finished house (we had to pay his fees).  This was all part of the mortgage service and quite normal.  I have house and contents insurance at the moment which is only £149.00 a year from Policy Direct and covers me for build costs of £500,000 and £75,000 contents.  I have seen other policies which quote a £1M as the basic re-build costs.

[markharro]

A slightly different question on this thread - our project might start as early as July when we intend to demolish our existing house and obviously at that point I will need to transit over to site insurance. My question is when can I expect to transit back again to a standard buildings and contents policy? If it matters I am based in Scotland. Is the trigger when you get a completion certificate or is it possible to go back to "normal" insurance if you move into the unfinished house yourself as we intend to do and you can show that you are actually living in the unfinished house?

[ProDave]

We moved to normal insurance when we got a certificate of temporary habitation when the house was nearly finished. 

[markharro]

Ah thats interesting thanks Dave. What sort of state does the house need to be in to get that cert?

[ProDave]

11 minutes ago, markharro said:

Ah thats interesting thanks Dave. What sort of state does the house need to be in to get that cert?

Basically safe and livable.  We had a working kitchen, one working bathroom, working heating, but a lot of internal work needing finished.

 

This was Highland council. I have heard some say that some Scottish council's wont issue a temporary habitation.

 

We also used the temporary habitation as "proof of completion" for the VAT claim.

[Bitpipe]

I got standard 'high st' insurance when we moved in, however took another two years to get completion cert as we had external landscaping to complete.

 

While a broker or insurer can (and will)  sell you an insurance policy it does not mean any claim would be successful if they felt you omitted something material when buying the policy and insurers are notoriously good at finding reasons not to pay out.

[Dan F]

6 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

I got standard 'high st' insurance when we moved in, however took another two years to get completion cert as we had external landscaping to complete.

 

Can you get high-street insurance without completion cert?  My understanding was your couldn't, or at least no guarantee a claim, if building related, would be sucessful.

 

In your case, was there any reason you delayed completion until landscaping was complete, was this for VAT reclaim?   We want completion cert. sooner rather than later to get onto a standard residential mortgage as soon as possible, but haven't starrted landscaping yet.  This will just mean that we'll need a lanscaper who can zero-rate, and won't be able to DIY.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Dan F

[jamieled]

40 minutes ago, ProDave said:

This was Highland council. I have heard some say that some Scottish council's wont issue a temporary habitation.

This is true even within the same council authority. Our BCO from Highland Council wouldn't issue one despite us being nearly finished and all the main bits certified. In the end it wasn't a problem but I'm glad we didn't rely on it.

 

I think one problem is that the legislation allows for a temporary habitation certificate but it gives a lot of discretion as to how it is interpreted, hence the differences seen across the country.

[markharro]

Thanks - this has raised another issue - do you really need to finish external landscaping to get a CC? If so why? For us we assumed that this would be our "gardening" projects for years after we move in!

[jamieled]

35 minutes ago, markharro said:

Thanks - this has raised another issue - do you really need to finish external landscaping to get a CC? If so why? For us we assumed that this would be our "gardening" projects for years after we move in!

As far as I'm aware the only landscaping that needs finished for completion is anything related to access(surfacing, access ramps/steps etc). We're still working away on most of our landscaping post completion in the same manner that you're planning to.

[ProDave]

2 hours ago, markharro said:

Thanks - this has raised another issue - do you really need to finish external landscaping to get a CC? If so why? For us we assumed that this would be our "gardening" projects for years after we move in!

For completion, you need the required level hard standing parking area and a hard path from there to the main door without steps (a ramp) and all the other doors need steps or other means of access.  It was pretty obvious the steps from our patio door were not permanent but they were accepted.  You also need the trivial things like bin storage space and a washing line.  Apart from that, your garden could resemble the Somme and there would be no reason to refuse a completion certificate.

[Bitpipe]

14 hours ago, markharro said:

Thanks - this has raised another issue - do you really need to finish external landscaping to get a CC? If so why? For us we assumed that this would be our "gardening" projects for years after we move in!

 

12 hours ago, ProDave said:

For completion, you need the required level hard standing parking area and a hard path from there to the main door without steps (a ramp) and all the other doors need steps or other means of access.  It was pretty obvious the steps from our patio door were not permanent but they were accepted.  You also need the trivial things like bin storage space and a washing line.  Apart from that, your garden could resemble the Somme and there would be no reason to refuse a completion certificate.

 

We also needed external balustrade to protect stairs to basement and some other outside areas so a but beyond the norm. 

 

[aims]

On 27/04/2022 at 18:03, Bitpipe said:

I got standard 'high st' insurance when we moved in, however took another two years to get completion cert as we had external landscaping to complete.

 

While a broker or insurer can (and will)  sell you an insurance policy it does not mean any claim would be successful if they felt you omitted something material when buying the policy and insurers are notoriously good at finding reasons not to pay out.

I'm in a similar situation right now. My existing self build insurance expires mid-july. I could extend it for a 3 months...or for the same price get a full year home insurance. My house hasn't got the completion certificate yet but its essentially just external balustrades (and some minor work) waiting to go on otherwise all the other major work is complete and we are essentially "moved in". 

Interested to know why you still took out the home insurance if the chance of yoor claim being rejected was high because it wasn't "building control complete"?

[Bitpipe]

16 hours ago, aims said:

Interested to know why you still took out the home insurance if the chance of yoor claim being rejected was high because it wasn't "building control complete"?

 

I suppose my logic was any claims were more likely to be content related which would be less dependent on completion certs etc. 

 

I wouldn't say the chances of rejection were certain to be high but just sounding a note of caution that just because you've been sold a product does not guarantee that a claim would be guaranteed to be successful.

 

You could disclose the nature of the delay in BC cert and get them to acknowledge in writing which would reduce the risk further.

 

I know that for my last B&C insurance, I got specific written confirmation that my build method (TF, externally rendered) was accepted as it was not one of the drop down options on the application.

[Happy Valley]

On 27/06/2022 at 18:34, aims said:

I'm in a similar situation right now. My existing self build insurance expires mid-july. I could extend it for a 3 months...or for the same price get a full year home insurance. My house hasn't got the completion certificate yet but its essentially just external balustrades (and some minor work) waiting to go on otherwise all the other major work is complete and we are essentially "moved in". 

Interested to know why you still took out the home insurance if the chance of yoor claim being rejected was high because it wasn't "building control complete"?

 

What did you decide to do in the end?

 

My self build insurance runs out at the end of July and we are due to move in 3 weeks later. I have obtained standard quotes and there is an option to include work being done at the property which for us now is minor.

[SimonD]

I recently moved from self-build insurance to a specialist home insurance policy. The sb insurance had become overkill in terms of both extent of cover and premiums, so the home insurance was a better option. I used Towergate as I've used them over the years for numerous policies. I simply explained what was left to be done, how long it's likely to take. No problem at all. There are just some clear exclusions to cover when using contractors and subbies who must hold their own insurances. They were mostly concerned that the structure was complete and watertight and this phase had been signed off by BC. Personally, I'd just explain where you are to the insurer and see what they come back with - always better to be upfront rather than risk voiding an insurance policy, and also check the requirements made by any lender.

[Bramco]

On 17/07/2022 at 14:59, SimonD said:

I simply explained what was left to be done, how long it's likely to take

 

Phoned today because we are in the same situation and they wouldn't entertain quoting until the house is signed off.  So back to extending the site insurance.

 

Simon

[Omi]

For what it's worth, we've managed to get regular home insurance from Nationwide. They weren't bothered about the completion certificate, so long as the build was safe and habitable. We've also got it in writing just to be sure!