from which date should i start home and building insurance? exchange or completion?

free4440273

hello again, sorry if this is a silly question. from which date should i start my home and buildings insurance? exchange or completion of the property? the property i am buying is £435k. i have read in the insurance forum not to insure it for what it was bought for. instead, provided i have read this correctly, i should insure it for what it would cost to rebuild? well, how do i calculate this - i just need someone to put a figure on it! also, if i did insure it for the full £435k, would this be deemed as illegal and improper by the insurer if the house did get knocked down for example. would they not pay up? also, what do insurers mean by a voluntary excess: i filled out a quote online and they gave me a list of options ranging from 'none' (voluntary excess) to '£5000'. thanks all, the advice is appreciated

payless

Usually advise to insure from exchange .. some companies offer it free until completion anyway.

Your valuation / survey ( if you had one) might give the rebuild figure
or try http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/ although at that value I might suggest getting it confirmed by a professional as property types do differ

payless

Also remember the "comparison sites" don't carry all the providers

lovelldr

voluntary excess if the amount you wish to pay if you were going to claim. There is usualy a compulsory excess. On our insurance, the compulsory excess was £60, and we opted for 0 voluntary excess. So if we were to make a claim, then we would have to pay the first £60 of the claim. If the claim was for £70, it would obviously not be worth the claim, but if it were for £500, then it means we will get more of the claim money...

As for the rebuild cost, there's a calculator of £90 per square foot, plus £25k for clearance and removal. So calculate yours from there. You will usually also get a rebuild cost in the survey when you have your survey done. The reason it isn't the cost you have paid for the house, is because if the house burnt down, then you already own the land, so don't have to pay to have the land bought!

As for the when to start, it depends on your circumstances. We're buying a new built home, which the builders are keeping insured until we complete. Usually on buying a pre-established home, you will need to insure on exchange, as if the house were to be burnt down, you would loose out, since you already have commited to the purchase...

Hope this helps.

free4440273

@lovelldr, thanks for such a detailed response re all my queries, very kind of you. clearly i must be a dimwit:there is something i still don't quite understand, and yet you have explained it in a brilliant manner: i understand the idea of the compulsory excess, yes, but what purpose does the voluntary excess serve; is it meant to propose a benefit to the customer. does it lower the cost of the overall insurance, is that the idea behind taking it out i.e. in your example, if i did take out the voluntary excess of say £5000 what benefit does it accrue me? thanks.

lovelldr

yes, the voluntary excess lowers to cost of the premium.

When I went through, it cost £300 with 0 voluntary excess, £280with £50 excess, etc etc

It all depends on how much of a risk taker you are, and your budget really. I personally wanted the 0 excess, because I didn't want to have to pay too much if Idid claim, although I hope that I need not claim...

Hope this all helps further

free4440273

@lovelldr. you're an absolute star! and yes, i got a homebuyers survey done yesterday, so hopefully that should state the cost of the rebuild. thanks again; have a lovely evening

lovelldr

np, glad to be of help

jonesMUFCforever

Buildings on Exchange and Contents the day that you actually move in.