Loft space HELP!

stivy

Is the structure sound at the point of insuring, do you know anything that you should make your insurance company aware of before proceding.

At present you and I are in the same position, works have been done to a property and there's no paperworkd to say that the changes have been checked and passed by a building inspector. Without that you could probably get insurance simply by not mentioning the changes and hoping the roof is properly supported and you never need to make a claim that could end up being denied. But since insurance is to protect against the unexpected I prefer not to take the chance.

Do yourself a favour and get a structural engineer to inspect, then you'll know what you're dealing with. Trouble with this type of situation is that if the conversion could have passed building regs then why were they not applied for when the work was done, could be simple oversight but more likely they weren't applied for because they wouldn't have been issued on the work.

Sometimes I wish that when I was at school I'd been made to take building classes rather then cookery and sewing - but that was a long time ago.

Doozergirl

stivy wrote: »

After speaking to an advisor I was informed that the insurance would be void and I wouldn't be able to make a claim because it is illegal to sell a house that has been altered structurally but dosen't have building regs.

That is an example of someone making a statement that they are not qualified to make. That is not insurance training talking, that is hearsay.

If the house were to suffer from the fact that it had not been done correctly then the assessor would probably declare that something essential to the structure had been removed and so therefore the problem would not be covered, however that is simple common sense - if someone deliberately undermines the structure of the building then it isn't going to be insured - and that is why it is important to check that the house is sound before you buy it.

However, it is most definitely not illegal to sell a house where building regs haven't been obtained. I imagine that at least half of the building stock in this country was never built to formal building regulations and that 99% of houses do not meet current standards. The statement is simply wrong.

It is you responsibility to check that the house you are buying is sound at the point at which you buy it.