transfer from construction policy to buildings and contents

[lizzie]

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.

[epsilonGreedy]

Pinch yourself Lizzie and say "how lucky am I to be asking this latest batch of questions".

[ProDave]

Ours specifically says on completion it transfers to normal buildings insurance for the remainder of the term. 

[lizzie]

@ProDave I will check my small print. I’m with Buildzone

[ProDave]

Mine was through buildstore but I forget which insurance company the policy is with.

[lizzie]

Ive just checked again with Buildzone. Very unhelpful man. My policy absolutely ceases on sign off no transfer possible. He says those sort of policies are rare!

 

So my plea for help now is how does sign off work. Does Building Inspector come round and say OK (or not) and thats it at that moment or does he come round and say Ok (or not) and then I get the cert in the post a few weeks later. When am I actually signed off for insurance purposes, what is the effective date? Date of vist or date on cert when it turns up (might be a few weeks old by then) I can get quotes lined up to kick in but when to activate?

 

I cant find anything to tell me. Any ideas?

[newhome]

15 minutes ago, lizzie said:

Ive just checked again with Buildzone. Very unhelpful man. My policy absolutely ceases on sign off no transfer possible. He says those sort of policies are rare!

 

So my plea for help now is how does sign off work. Does Building Inspector come round and say OK (or not) and thats it at that moment or does he come round and say Ok (or not) and then I get the cert in the post a few weeks later. When am I actually signed off for insurance purposes, what is the effective date? Date of vist or date on cert when it turns up (might be a few weeks old by then) I can get quotes lined up to kick in but when to activate?

 

I cant find anything to tell me. Any ideas?

 

The BS who came to my house (30th Nov) didn’t say that it would be signed off during the visit, he said that he would let me know. He will probably point out things that he is not prepared to accept so you know it won’t be then anyway (or mine did at the initial inspection). 

 

Following day I got this:

 

I have spoken with Mark and the application for completion has been put forward for acceptance so the completion certificate should be with you. 

 

Then the completion certificate came on 8th (by email). I take it that the 8th is the formal date but it didn’t matter to me as I already had insurance. So it was only a week between final inspection and the certificate arriving. 

 

I would line up cover and as soon as soon as the completion certificate arrives ring up and put the policy on risk. 

 

This was in Scotland and as always YMMV. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[newhome]

And as an added thought and to cover your back, write to Buildzone, refer to your earlier conversation and say that your understanding is that you are covered by their policy until the formal completion certificate is issued or until the expiry date of the policy, whichever is earlier, and to let you know by return if that is not the case.  

 

 

[Gone West]

@lizzie We had Self Build Zone site insurance which cost us a fortune. We didn't need site insurance towards the end of the build and we got an unoccupied buildings and contents policy. We did this through Sennocke who are behind Self Build Zone and we were told that policy could be converted to standard buildings and contents cover. We found Sennocke very helpful, we dealt with Jenny Burr on 01732742102

[lizzie]

I have a quote from Sennocke now, buildings only (they say our Hiscox contents only policy cover is so good they cant match it so stick with that).  The premium seems Ok but they are saying it is non standard construction.

 

I thought timber frame was classed as standard these days? The likes of Barrat homes et al are doing timber frame all over and they must be classed as standard construction surely.  Anyone know if it is the outside finish that dictates standard or non standard....ours is larch and render.

[newhome]

As I have finally got my completion certificates after years of being on a ‘building work in progress’ policy I decided to use one of the comparison websites to see what I could now get plus I want to include accidental damage which I couldn’t have with building work ongoing previously.

 

Surprisingly, in 3rd place and not much different to 1st and 2nd was my existing insurer (Halifax) who were offering buildings and contents for £141 although they were sneaky as they had taken off £50 cashback which is never guaranteed. So 191 vs my renewal quote of 288. Rang up to cancel. They immediately cut the quote to 235 and cited that my current policy is unlimited in some areas and includes the detached garage where the other quote does not. Still asked her to cancel and she said she could include accidental damage for both buildings and contents for 285 which is a pound less than my renewal quote which didn’t include that. I don’t want to spend eons of time on this so just wanting to know if it’s in the right ballpark really. Thanks 

 

And in answer to your question @lizzie mine is timber frame with stone / blocks / render. She looked it up and said that it counted as standard and they didn’t cover anything where the frame was metal for example. Not sure about larch cladding but it doesn’t seem to be the timber frame that causes it to be non standard, but possibly the cladding might. Well with Halifax at least. 

[lizzie]

@newhome thanks. I got a quote from Hiscox.  Perfectly acceptable construction standard policy.  Much better price too.