Quick qusetion about buildings insurance

natalie1974

Hi , Hope someone can point me in the right direction . Basically OH has buildings insurance with Abbey whom his mortgage is with . He took them both out at the same time . We want to cancel the buildings and look at getting it cheaper elsewhere but OH seems to think you must have insurance on your house (buildings) at all times . So do we need to get the new policy up and running before we cancel the old one or is this just a myth ? Thanks

natalie1974

Can a mod please sort my double post out ? Thanks

Ian_W

OH is right, it's a standard condition of mortgages that the building is insured and in any case you'd be barking not to have it given that if the building is damaged/destroyed you'd be responsible for the repairs irrespective of the cost.
Lenders can charge a "reasonable" fee if you use another insurance so you need to check with Abbey whether they do. A lot of insurers will pay the fee for you when you switch.
You also need to check whether or how much the cancellation fee is for the insurance. Depending on how long you have before renewal it maybe cheaper to switch when the 12 months is up than mid-term.
You don't need to have the 2 policies running at the same time, the new insurance will ask when you want it to start and you could give notice to the existing insurers to cancel on that date BUT don't leave a gap.
Lenders own insurance isn't usually the cheapest option so switching is likely to be a smart move.
HTH.

natalie1974

Hi , Thanks for that , no we wouldn't leave it uncovered but I did say to OH we could cancel in the morning and whilst he is on the phone doing that I would be comparing prices for new insurance . He pays £32 a month to Abbey , the policy has been running for 18 years now , along side his mortgage . I wouldn't mind but we have accidental damage cover and OH put his foot through garage roof and they came out and said no to the claim so as far as I am concerned its a waste of money !