Insurance

[nod]

Sorry if this has been covered 

I’ve rang our sb insurance As our policy runs out on the 19th two weeks before we move in

They offered us a three month extension £200 That covers the build in progress But not contents 

He said without the build being signed off it is unlikely any company would issue normal contents cover 

Van this be correct 

 

Any help would be appreciated 

   

  Gary 

[newhome]

6 minutes ago, nod said:

He said without the build being signed off it is unlikely any company would issue normal contents cover 

 

Most 'normal' companies won't cover work in progress on a not yet signed off house but specialist companies should, like GSI that I posted before. For £200 for 3 months I reckon you'd be better off contacting GSI and getting a quote for buildings and contents for a year. I'm not sure about the GSI policy as I didn't have one but I had a similar policy sourced through a broker and the thing they wouldn't cover whilst work was ongoing was accidental damage (for both buildings and contents). I was ok with that though and converted to a standard policy with accidental damage included at the renewal. 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

We had this problem, a partially completed build where we needed to re-insure but we didn't need full self-build insurance and a normal buildings policy wouldn't have been possible.  I went to GSI who negotiated a policy with an underwriter based on property renovation insurance and it was a great deal cheaper than Buildstore wanted to extend our self-build insurance. 

[Ian]

28 minutes ago, nod said:

Sorry if this has been covered 

I’ve rang our sb insurance As our policy runs out on the 19th two weeks before we move in

They offered us a three month extension £200 That covers the build in progress But not contents 

He said without the build being signed off it is unlikely any company would issue normal contents cover 

Van this be correct 

 

Any help would be appreciated 

   

  Gary 

I managed to get normal building insurance well before I had a building regs completion certificate. Let me know if you want me to PM you the details of the broker I used.

The only exclusion was loss as a result of construction work.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Ian

[Ian]

@nod

PM sent with the brokers details.

[CC45]

@Ian can you pm me those details - we are in a similar position.  Thanks.

[recoveringbuilder]

@IanAnd me please, just was wondering about insurance 

Edited November 10, 2018 by Christine Walker

[Jude1234]

We got a quote from GSI for buildings and contents insurance for a non-completed build and it was £1500.  That sounded horrific to us, is that the 'going' rate?

[newhome]

Mine was arranged quite a long time ago but it was £25 per month for buildings and contents for a not yet signed off / completed property. That was without accidental damage. Once it was signed off I converted it to a ‘normal’ policy, added accidental damage and it’s now £23 a month. 

 

 

 

[Redoctober]

@Ian Please add me to that list for a PM with details. Thanks.

 

[Jude1234]

me too please @Ian

[Redoctober]

With regards to insurance, I decided to do an internet search for House and Contents insurance. Our address is already registered with Royal Mail and the systems allowed me to obtain a quote for a new build property. Is there any reason why I can't go ahead and get insured without a completion certificate? The systems never asked for one.

[newhome]

Just now, Redoctober said:

With regards to insurance, I decided to do an internet search for House and Contents insurance. Our address is already registered with Royal Mail and the systems allowed me to obtain a quote for a new build property. Is there any reason why I can't go ahead and get insured without a completion certificate? The systems never asked for one.

 

If you admit that you don’t have a completion certificate and construction work is still in progress they won’t insure you. If you don’t admit to it then the chances are you will not be covered if you come to claim. Like all insurance policies it pays to be completely open about the circumstances otherwise you may find your cover is invalidated. I rang round loads and couldn’t find one that would cover me when I explained the circumstances, not even companies that provided cover for alteration works, extensions etc. In the end I used Challenge Quoterack and explained the circumstances in detail. I was contacted by 3 brokers, one of whom arranged me the policy I took out. I could sleep at night knowing that it was all above board. My insurance was arranged with Halifax but I was not able to source this insurance through them myself. One of the occasions where using a broker was much needed. 

 

https://www.quoterack.co.uk/ChallengeQuoteRack.aspx

 

 

[ProDave]

What about a house with a "certificate of temporary habitation" ? (possibly Scotland only)

 

A self builder close to me reported being able to move onto ordinary insurance once he had that and I am hoping to do the same next May when the building site insurance is up for renewal.

 

By then I should have a fairly complete house, but the en-suite won't have been done, a lot of rooms will be missing joinery e.g skirtings, window boards and quite possible even doors. But the big issue is the sun room (orangery) is just a shell with a roof. It will be some time before we have the funds to buy the windows to complete that.

 

At the last renewal of the building site insurance I tried to negotiate a discount on the basis all the digging and heavy work was long completed and it was only interior work ongoing so the risks should be lower, but they would not budge.

[Redoctober]

@newhome and @ProDave thanks. I have applied for a temporary habitation certificate so will await the result.

We will be looking to move into a completed house. No work left to do, so in not sure if that has any impact upon which route I take with regards to insurance.

[PeterW]

5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

At the last renewal of the building site insurance I tried to negotiate a discount on the basis all the digging and heavy work was long completed and it was only interior work ongoing so the risks should be lower, but they would not budge.

 

I spoke to a broker about the risk Profile on builds and they reckon a higher number of claims happen toward the end of the build and the repair cost is greater.  He said they had dealt with a build where a customer screwed through a main water pipe upstairs on the day before completion, flooding the kitchen ceiling below and damaging the kitchen cabinets, appliances, wood flooring and the ceiling. That probably ran to a significant claim whereas knocking a partially built wall down with a JCB or the like is probably cheaper to wrap up without a claim at all as it will be within the excess. 

[newhome]

5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

What about a house with a "certificate of temporary habitation" ? (possibly Scotland only)

 

A self builder close to me reported being able to move onto ordinary insurance once he had that and I am hoping to do the same next May when the building site insurance is up for renewal.

 

You will need to call them and explain the circumstances. You can never rely on internet quotes for such circumstances. Internet quotes are appropriate for the 90% of the population who conform to the ‘norm’, anything else needs specialist underwriting. They may decide that you are far enough through to get a standard policy (I wasn’t) or they may not but you’ll only know if you phone them. Many many people embark on building projects to their home without informing their insurance company and thus risk invalidating their insurance. 

[Jeremy Harris]

Another problem with ordinary buildings and contents insurance is that there is often a clause stating that you have to be resident at the address and spend no more than a given number of nights away from it during the cover period.  I was surprised at how limiting some policies were; 30 nights away as a limit isn't unusual. 

[PeterW]

15 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Another problem with ordinary buildings and contents insurance is that there is often a clause stating that you have to be resident at the address and spend no more than a given number of nights away from it during the cover period.  I was surprised at how limiting some policies were; 30 nights away as a limit isn't unusual. 

 

I re-read mine just now and it’s 45 days in a single period, but doesn’t state how many days between 45 days you need to be resident ...!! So one night may do it ..!

 

As a word of caution on these clauses too, I know friends who went away for 35  days over the summer to France and found that despite the policy being in joint names, and their 22 year old son living there full time, the policy only covers the policyholder for not being at the property (this is one of the big insurers from memory) so even if you have someone stay at the house it still may not be covered. 

[Jeremy Harris]

I'm always a bit wary about clauses like this, primarily because insurers are extremely adept at finding a way out of paying out, and I'd lay money that they would try not to pay out in the case of a normal buildings/contents policy being used to cover a partially built self-build.

 

When we were quoted a ludicrous premium to extend our self-build insurance (which came via the infamous Buildstore) I shopped around and was advised by a helpful broker that we really needed to be completely upfront about the house not being lived in, just being worked on most days.  IIRC, I ended up paying something like £300 for a year's premium on a custom policy that was based on a renovation insurance policy.  There were several specific things we made sure were clear, including not living in the house, having the heating working, ensuring the water was turned off when no one was at the property, etc, and there were limits on things like water damage from leaking plumbing which I agreed to.

[Ian]

@Redoctober @Jude1234 @Christine Walker @CC45

Hi,

The broker I used is called Mayfair Performance Insurance, 11 Lurke Street, Bedford. Tel 01234 242900 (no connection with them other than as a customer)

My reason that i went through a broker is that my self-build is a holiday home which is timber frame and timber clad so a little unusual but the insurance is not too bad - £200 a year for the building & usual 3rd party liability (but no contents cover) I've been using them for a couple of years now and started a few months before I got my building regs completion (but after the highest risk work had been completed). Loss as a result of construction work prior to full completion was an exclusion on the policy.

Ian

 

Edited November 12, 2018 by Ian