buildings insurance

keith969

My solicitor is asking who is arranging buildings insurance, and if it is not the mortgage lender he wants details so they can approve it.

I want to get the insurance through a comparison website, but as I don't have a date yet for exchange can this be done?

Also he's asking me if I am arranging new life cover. Is this to pay off the mortgage? I have life cover through work, but as its only 2x my salary it won't quite cover the mortgage. Do I have to take out a completely seperate life cover policy?

homehunter

It would be great for someone more knowledgeable to respond on this one, I'm coming up to that point shortly I hope.

On our mortgage key facts it states that buildings insurance is a requirement of the mortgage - we don't have to take it out with our lender, but we do have to get it for mortgage to be approved - my understanding anyway, after speaking to adviser. When I played on comparison websites, and got a couple of quotes, I'm sure one of the questions was 'is the insurance for a property you are purchasing' or something like that, so they must take it into account.

A quote I got for life cover recently was a joint policy to cover the full mortgage - if one of us dies (heaven forbid) it gets paid. Critical illness is an optional extra.

Then there's mortgage protection insurance - in case you lose your job, or your circumstances change etc. I have heard that not many people bother with it, but I guess it depends on the security of your job as much as anything? Will wait for other responses, will be interested to read them!

poppysocks1

I have just bought a house, so I looked on comparison websites and chose who I would go with by putting in the address, possible date of exchange etc and going through all the details but didnt actually book the insurance until the day of exchange, as you have to give a date. But I did the research before hand in preparation so maybe you could do the same? For me Halifax was the best deal but I did go on comparison websites first.

lindos90

Am I right in thinking that the buildings insurance has to be from date of exchange rather than completion/move in day?

Does this mean I would need two policies overlapping, or would my buyer be responsible for the house im selling from the exchange date?

How does that work with combined building and contence, as I assume I would not be responsible for my vendors contence between exchange and completion?

Oh Ive got my knickers in a twist about this havent I ?!

poppysocks1

Buildings insurance is from exchange and you are responsible for insuring it. You are not responsible for your vendors contents, just building.

I decided to take out a new buildings and contents policy for house i am buying (as an extra months contents insurance was only about £5!) and then cancel my current contents policy from date I leave my flat but you could just call your current insurance company and see what they could offer.

lindos90

So do I need to swap my buildings and contents from the date of exchange, or have insurance runnung for both houses for the time between exchange and completion?

Im abouy 4 months into my year for buildings and contents with the post office, as afaik they do not refund part way through the year, so I will need to transfer it, and possibly increase it to double for a short period.

Take your point about doing buildings and contents anyway, as its often cheaper that way, so what you would gain by only having buildings for a short period, you would loose by having separate insurance, one for buildings, one for contents.

Keeps it simple too, which I also like

poppysocks1

Call your insurance company as when I called our current one they said they could put the new property on cover for buildings insurance, then transfer the contents insurance on date of completion, so worth checking. Otherwise just get competitive quotes and see how it all compares. I decided to keep it simple so got totally new b & c insurance, and cancelled our current contents from date we move out but its not always the best cost wise so investigate both options.

Richard_Webster

I have just bought a house, so I looked on comparison websites and chose who I would go with by putting in the address, possible date of exchange etc and going through all the details but didnt actually book the insurance until the day of exchange, as you have to give a date. But I did the research before hand in preparation so maybe you could do the same? For me Halifax was the best deal but I did go on comparison websites first.

That seems to be a way of doing it - the only thing is that once you have exchanged and started the policy you need to make sure that the insurer can fax confirmation fairly quickly to your solicitor and this should include that the interest of the lender is at least noted on the policy - so that if you default on your mortgage your lender can still claim on the policy.

keith969

I just talked to my solicitor and explained that I wanted to use an online insurer rather than my mortgage provider (half the cost and better cover too!).

He said it was fine and provided that I could arrange the insurance at short notice when the date of exchange is known, and provide him with a printout detailing the cover, then it would be acceptable.

He didn't mention the bit about 'interest of the lender' being noted on the policy, and I forgot to ask him at the time, is this important?

Richard_Webster

He didn't mention the bit about 'interest of the lender' being noted on the policy, and I forgot to ask him at the time, is this important?

Some lenders aren't bothered about this - but I would check with your solicitor on the point.

poppysocks1

Mine was online so i got confirmation of insurance being booked immediately which was great, and received postal confirmation a couple of days later