ryder72 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Hi all We are very close to having the house finished and have booked movers for 1st February. Some elements of the house remain incomplete and will be finished by end of February and others such as hard landscaping, patios etc will be addressed in early spring. What are the implications of moving into a house without a completion certificate? Are insurers happy to insure houses that havent got completion certifcates? Does a typical insurance policy assume that the house has been built and certificated as suitable for habitation? What happens with council tax etc which currently stands suspended? We will have relatively minor jobs ongoing and my site insurance expires on 15th February. Is there a requirement to extend it? Thanks Amol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 You cannot move in without it. Electrics, fire & smoke and gas etc where applicable are all covered by it. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Up here, you can get a "certificate of temporary habitation" that legally allows you to move into an unfinished house as long as it is basically functional. That also qualified it to be accepted for a normal insurance policy, and is also valid proof of completion for a VAT refund. Do English BC not offer something similar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Still needs the major bits signed off . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragg987 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 We moved in prior to BC sign off. Our build insurance covered us for this, our council did not query anything and were fine to register us for council tax from move in date, on an "emergency" council tax band until it had been properly valuated. Risk was that contents were not insured. Also we were unable to get onto a domestic mortgage or insurance policy until BC sign off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryder72 Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 So moving in would be at the discretion of the site insurance provider? So it is illegal to occupy a building until a completion certificate has been issued? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragg987 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Our BC inspector said it was quite normal for self builders to move on prior to sign off. Not sure about the legality, was a case of JDI, though I did tell various parties like self build mortgage, build insurance, council. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragg987 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Should add, build insurance we had specifically allowed for this scenario so it was not at their discretion. Self build zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldwidewebs Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 It's absolutely no issue at all. We've been in since early October and won't complete for a month or two. Sorted out insurance on that basis too (a bit more expensive than normal but not that bad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryder72 Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 14 minutes ago, worldwidewebs said: It's absolutely no issue at all. We've been in since early October and won't complete for a month or two. Sorted out insurance on that basis too (a bit more expensive than normal but not that bad) Was this buildings/contents insurance issued without completion or site insurance with permission to live in the property offering buildings and contents cover? Could you PM me your insurers details? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 BCO made it CRYSTAL clear to my customer that to get a temporary certificate of habitation the gas, electricity and EPC absolutely MUST be in place / complete / registered PRIOR to her moving in. He insisted on seeing the electrical certification and gas certification in person and was happy to wait for them to arrive electronically, but the EPC he wanted email confirmation of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Yes it's normal for your electrician to issue an EIC before they will give a temporary habitation certificate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldwidewebs Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 8 hours ago, ryder72 said: Was this buildings/contents insurance issued without completion or site insurance with permission to live in the property offering buildings and contents cover? Could you PM me your insurers details? The former. I'll dig out the details but it won't be until tomorrow I'm afraid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 @ryder72 how did you resolve this in the end? @worldwidewebs those buildings/contents insurance details would be useful please? Without a BC completion cert' I can extend my Protek site insurance and live there, however I cannot find anyone to give contents insurance. The part of my house i'm moving into is physically fully complete and the unfinished part is partitioned off and at 1st Fix stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 Help please. We are self builders, our house will be finished next week, all electrics/plumbing/air test etc carried out, however, the certificates from contractors won't be completed until after Christmas. We have site insurance with self build zone and they say once you move in the insurance is then cancelled. I have tried various brokers and it appears we can't get buildings insurance until we have our completion certificate (won't have this for several weeks after submitting Part P etc) due to time of year. Some of you seem to have moved in with no problem. Can anyone provide any advice of who would cover us for buildings and contents insurance in our new home without a completion cert from building control. I am losing sleep over this :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimpsy Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 We didn't have any certificates when we moved in and got our building and contents insurance through Direct LIne who were quite happy with our situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 55 minutes ago, dimpsy said: We didn't have any certificates when we moved in and got our building and contents insurance through Direct LIne who were quite happy with our situation. But did you make clear to them (contents insurer)you didn’t have comp cert? From my experience it seems they’d take it for granted, until you claim, then ask for it and subsequently invalidate your claim when you couldn’t produce it. @Caroline if you do get (valid)contents ins I’d love to know....I went to some lengths trying, but failed. I’m not optimistic for you, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 (edited) I had a look at the policy wording here and couldn't see any mention of building control approval but they don't cover contents where... "Loss or damage caused by building work which involves alterations, renovations, extensions or repairs." https://www.aviva.co.uk/insurance/home-products/buildings-insurance/?source=GP7A&entry=117165&cmp=ppc-hom-prd-goo-Bui_Main_Phr&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=CjwKCAiAxMLvBRBNEiwAKhr-nPl02vGiyPT4QWotsJGXnr3o25JzXmxW2nPqxdds4Bp8pK24IrQWhhoCPvkQAvD_BwE Policy wording.. https://www.aviva.co.uk/content/dam/aviva-public/gb/pdfs/personal/insurance/home/home-insurance/home_insurance_policy_wording_insurance_home_nhdhg6080_v35_012017_140617.pdf There must be thousands of properties with extensions that were built without building control approval. Edited December 12, 2019 by Temp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 16 hours ago, Caroline said: Can anyone provide any advice of who would cover us for buildings and contents insurance in our new home without a completion cert from building control. I am losing sleep over this For several months between site insurance running out and full house cover we had uninhabited buildings insurance. This is usually used for renovation works on unoccupied rental properties. Ours was with Sennocke Insurance and was a couple of years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 9 minutes ago, PeterStarck said: For several months between site insurance running out and full house cover we had uninhabited buildings insurance. This is usually used for renovation works on unoccupied rental properties. Ours was with Sennocke Insurance and was a couple of years ago. 9 minutes ago, PeterStarck said: For several months between site insurance running out and full house cover we had uninhabited buildings insurance. This is usually used for renovation works on unoccupied rental properties. Ours was with Sennocke Insurance and was a couple of years ago. The house will be inhabited though as we want to move in:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Just get a quote from Compare the Markets or whoever and check the policy wording. I am confident that you will be covered but it is worth checking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Hi Peter I called Sennocke, they say they are part of Buildzone who told me we would lose our site insurance and that was that. He said they should have told me about them and they do provide buildings and contents cover as long as completion is provided within 90 days, yippee. Not sure of cost as I am waiting for them to email over but that has made my Christmas. Thanks to you and Sennocke. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Caroline said: Thanks to you and Sennocke. We've always found Sennocke to be helpful and they said we could convert to a different type of cover when necessary. They are more expensive but as they seem to be able to cover most situations it's easier for the first year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Thank you, really appreciate your advice. I can now move out of our temp (nearly 3 year) converted leaking stable/shed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetE Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 We moved in to our house end of December 2017, BC signed off February 2019. We had the necessary documentation for our electrics at the time of moving in, no gas anyway. We were rated for council tax. We transferred our John Lewis policy from the old house and they were aware that our new place was not signed off, had no problem with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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