When do I apply for buildings insurance?

Martian2035

I've had an offer accepted on a house and my mortgage is in place. Neither party has a chain so I'm expecting the sale to take a matter of weeks now.

I've spent 30 minutes searching but struggling to find an answer - can anybody advise when I need to apply for buildings insurance?

I understand the insurance needs to be in place for exchange, as per the terms of my mortgage agreement.

My solicitor can't advise on an exchange or completion date yet. Do I apply for the insurance now, so that it's in place when this comes around?

If you could help me with a simple guide of what I need to be doing regarding this, you would save me hours of headaches.

Thanks in advance,
Kevin Robinson

barbiedoll

You can buy buildings (and contents) insurance on the web within 15 minutes so you can sort it out much nearer the time. You will get an exchange date and you can start your policy from then.

You could start getting some quotes now from comparison websites and even if you buy a policy, you do get 14 days in which to cancel if you find a better deal elsewhere. (Be warned though, you will get charged for this!)

Good luck with your move!

dimbo61

You can find the rebuilding costs from the survey, not the purchase price for the buildings insurance, contents depends on the value of your goods.
Shop round every year very MSE

G_M

Use comparison sites and shop around.

Don't just look at price, look also at what is included/excluded in the policy. Read the policy documents!

Most quotes you get will be vaid for a few weeks, so you can decide which company you prefer, then wait for Exchange and activate the policy on that day.

as advised above, don't take out a poicy for the purchase price, it's the rebuild value you need. This is usually less (but occassionally more) than the purchase price/market value.

Martian2035

Thanks everybody, this is all very, very useful.


I'll start work on this tonight.


Thanks also for your well wishes, they are very much appreciated.


This is my first home - it's all so exciting!

m_13

Be very careful of comparison sites. Our mortgage broker warned us that each time you do a quote it does a search on your credit record. He'd had a client with hundreds on his and although they say it doesn't affect your credit rating it was hard to sort it out.

You don't have an insurable risk in the property until exchange. We were due to exchange on Monday. And yesterday. Now we are trying again today. Our insurance company are providing buildings cover on our new house free of charge until completion and will then move buildings and contents insurance across to the new house. We just paid the difference in premium for the two areas (and the fact the new house has terrible security).