Insurance to cover the gaps in the warranty?

[Tony K]

Afternoon all.

To reduce impact, my SB is set into slightly excavated ground in relation to neighbouring land. This required some slightly fiddly waterproof tanking inside the cavity wall, which I undertook myself. The work is to the satisfaction of the building control inspector, and the warranty providers inspector hasn't questioned it. 

 

The SB is a single storey flat roof building with a very simple roof design. I am not a roofer, but am considering building the structure and doing the finish with rubber myself, albeit with some help from a former roofer on the detailed bits. 

 

The terms of my warranty include a standard endorsement that any works to waterproof the house must be backed by a ten year guarantee. If not, the warranty doesn't cover any damage caused by water ingress. 

 

I'm fairly comfortable that I did a decent job of the tanking. The cost of getting a guarantee-backed roofer to do the roof finishing seems unnesecary given the simplicity of the job and the fact I have access to a good former roofer anyway, albeit one without the backing of a guarantee. 

 

Does anyone know whether:

 

1. Any standard home insurance I take out after completion (including Building Control sign off) would cover the waterproofing?

2. The is any feasibility in taking out a seperate insurance policy to cover the gap in the warranty regarding water ingress? Which firms might supply this, and at what likely cost?

 

Thanks

 

 

[PeterW]

1 minute ago, Tony K said:

The cost of getting a guarantee-backed roofer to do the roof finishing seems unnesecary given the simplicity of the job

After watching some of the rubber roofing contractors doing big commercial jobs, it isn’t something I would take on for the risk as any leaks are notoriously difficult to find. 
 

You may also find a house insurer for a build that has more than 10% flat roof requires the roof to be backed by a guarantee too so you can’t rely on this. 

[Bitpipe]

Latent defect policies are difficult to claim against anyway (I know from bitter experience) so I would only view them as a means to get a mortgage and/or sell on the house during the 10 year duration. 

 

Home insurance  usually only covers damage due to an unforeseen event such as fire, flood etc or (if covered) accidental damage. 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Bitpipe