GrantMcscott Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Hi Can any give advise please. I am due to complete on my land today and the mortgage company has asked for proof of site insurance. I have had a couple of quotes for 12 months and it is about £700 The issue I have is that I am not starting work for 12 month and do not want to insure a remote field in the middle of no where until I start work. Understand I need public liabilty insurance incase someone wonders onto the land and hurts themselves Can anyone advise how I can reduce this cost? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliMcLeod Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) Devils advocate: Why do you need site insurance for a remote field? Are you insured today if someone wanders into your garden (assuming you have one) and hurts themselves? Edited January 11, 2019 by AliMcLeod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, AliMcLeod said: Are you insured today if someone wanders into your garden (assuming you have one) and hurts themselves? Yes you probably are via your household insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 36 minutes ago, GrantMcscott said: I am due to complete on my land today and the mortgage company has asked for proof of site insurance. Maybe they are getting mixed up with someone buying a dwelling? Can’t you just say that will be put in place once work starts or have you already tried that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantMcscott Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 There is no liability insurance on the land at the minute so if someone wander on to the land and hurts themselves then most likely not insured. I have no issue in getting liability insurance but full site insurance seems overkill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliMcLeod Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 4 minutes ago, newhome said: Yes you probably are via your household insurance. Is that via the optional "Legal protection" add-on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EverHopefull Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 I have a similar situation approaching. I only need liability insurance until the project kicks off with a main contractor. I was thinking of going to a broker just for that as well. Not sure if that insurance type is available from the main named companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 I’m guessing that it is your lender that is insisting on this As a condition of drawdown The implication would be Would be that you would have to temporary fence the plot off to stop anyone wandering on to the plot If your not borrowing and it is just a solicitor thing Then you can do as you please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Why not investigate land insurance sold to farmers? As a theoretical exercise I just went through the Protek self builders online quotation system for a property with a 1m2 internal area, a £1 reinstatement cost and just the 3rd party liability insurance element ticked. The system calculated that 12 months insurance would cost £1.57. Protek officially call this an "indication" which implies there is later human review. It might be worth pursuing as they might just view the minor costs of insuring a green field as a loss leader for you later business though be aware that this industry segment colludes to tie self builders to a single insurer for the whole self build and consequently people get stung when seeking insurance extensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 20 minutes ago, AliMcLeod said: Is that via the optional "Legal protection" add-on? This would be covered under third party cover via contents insurance surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantMcscott Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 Checked with Mortgage company they want full site insurance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedreamer Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 @GrantMcscott we had a to purchase self build insurance as part of our completion procedure for the mortgage. The most important part to the Building Society was the reinstatement value. Could you prehaps speak to the building society and see if the reinstatement value could be £Nil and then purchase another product in six months time? You might need to get several quotes to work out the best outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Pay for an 18 month policy then extend it. If the mortgage company want a full site policy then I'm afraid your going to have to pay up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 I have a strong feeling that you are going to have to suck this one up..... Look at the worst case: tomorrow, when its all yours, financed by someone else, something awful happens on your land, and you aren't insured. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantMcscott Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 We I have purchased it and got a good deal I think. Paid £342 for a 18 month cover and the insurance will convert to cover the build when I start. The will also take the £342 off the cost of the new insurance as long as I do not claim. This was through Self Build UK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 It’s pretty normal for them to want to tie you in to their policy TBH. Have you tied yourself into a conversion of this 18 month policy to a self build policy or will it be a brand new one with a term of your choosing? If the former the downside is that you will only get 6 months to complete your build and that’s if everything goes to plan and you start in May. Many people need longer than that and find that the costs spiral if you want to extend. Definitely still shop around when it comes to taking the main policy out. Just as a little warning (to others too) we had a claim against our self build policy (there is a thread about it somewhere) and when we weren’t going to finish in time we were left high and dry as the insurance company refused to extend the cover and we wouldn’t have secured insurance through anyone else. After quite a few sleepless nights I managed to get ‘standard’ buildings cover via a specialist policy as the main structural work was complete so we no longer needed all of the things covered by a self build policy. My advice would be to add 6 months to the maximum time you think you’ll ever need and ensure that there is the facility to transfer to a standard buildings policy to use up any unused term once you get the completion certificate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 15 hours ago, newhome said: [...] My advice would be to add 6 months to the maximum time you think you’ll ever need and ensure that there is the facility to transfer to a standard buildings policy to use up any unused term once you get the completion certificate. I could not agree more It may be that our build has been unluckier (not to say accident prone) than most........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eandg Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 I am in a similar position - taking ownership of our plot soon and unlikely to be starting for another 3-6 months. I had planned on just getting public liability insurance to cover this period (and advised that a policy would be c.£150 for 12 months). Is there any reason why I shouldn't? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 On 21/06/2019 at 14:40, eandg said: I am in a similar position - taking ownership of our plot soon and unlikely to be starting for another 3-6 months. I had planned on just getting public liability insurance to cover this period (and advised that a policy would be c.£150 for 12 months). Is there any reason why I shouldn't? @eandg what did you end up doing here? I take ownership soon for my plot (a 4 acre field) but not starting till day August or September hence didn't want to kick full insurance off till I am ready to get going to keep costs down and make use of the full self build insurance term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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