Moving House - Buildings Insurance for Old and New House

Catweazle

I am in the process of moving house and the contract for the purchase of the house that I am moving to requires me to have buildings insurance in place at exchange of contracts.

I have phoned a couple of insurance companies as my current house insurance also runs out at the end of June but I am getting confused responses from them about how the changeover will happen.

As far as I can tell I will need overlapping cover so that the Home and Contents Insurance for the new house will run from exchange of contracts and my existing policy will run until we move house (including any renewal at the end of June).

The insurance companies I have spoken to so far do not seem to understand the above and say that I will just swap over from the old policy to the new one on the day I move.

Can anyone please advise what normally happens here as there must surely be thousands of people moving home every year who have to have overlapping cover?

Thanks in advance
Cat

G_M

Check you existing insurer. Many policies will cover precisely this.

dacouch

As GM has posted, most decent Insurers will automatically cover both properties. Some may charge an admin fee for doing this.

The problem you're probably having is Insurance Call Centre staff tend to have a very limited understanding of Insurance and are often trained to just do their exact job. Anything unusual they would often need to refer to a more senior member who in theory has a better understanding of their policy.

I think the problem you're having is due to you speaking to people who are trained to issue quotes. They often would not know the answer to the question you're asking hence the conflicting answers.

If you speak to the general customer services dept of the Insurers or what they may call the admin dept they're more likely to know the answer.

As GM has posted ring the general customer services dept of your current Insurer

ellie27

But the house is not yours til completion so why do you have to insure it?

Is that a normal condition that you need to have property insured on exchange?

nubbins

http://www.actlegal.co.uk/faq/buying-house-faqs/30/

G_M

ellie27 wrote: »

But the house is not yours til completion so why do you have to insure it?

Is that a normal condition that you need to have property insured on exchange?

Because the Standard Conditions of Sale 5th edition places liability on the buyer.

Of course, if you/your solicitor, are using the 4th edition, then liability remains with the seller.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/articles/standard-conditions-of-sale/

davidmcn

G_M wrote: »

Of course, if you/your solicitor, are using the 4th edition, then liability remains with the seller.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/articles/standard-conditions-of-sale/

Or if you're in Scotland, which I think ellie27 is, then the norm is that liability remains with the seller (and either party can pull out if there is significant damage to the property).

Catweazle

Thanks for the responses.

I think you are probably correct dacouch. I gave up on the phone today as it was like the girl at the other end was only able to say what it said in her script rather than answer questions in plain English.

It went something like this...

Me "I obtained 2 online quotes yesterday; one for my existing house and the other one for where I am moving to. I need the former to run until I move house and the latter to start when I exchange contracts. Is that possible?"

Operator "Can I give you a new quote?"

Me "No I already have quotes that are valid from yesterday. {repeat what I said above}"

Operator "Ok, but I will need to give you a new quote"

Me "I don't need a new quote I just need you to confirm that the two policies can overlap"

Operator "Can I provide a new quote?"

Me "Ok never mind I will find another insurance company who can answer my question".

Very frustrating.

dacouch

Try googling "(Insurers name) FAQ Building Insurance Moving Home"

Here is what this returns if you put Direct Line as the Insurers name.

"I am moving home soon, should I get a new policy or can you change on my current policy?

If you are changing address, please call us on 0345 246 3564 to discuss. If you’re selling your home the buildings section of our policy automatically covers the buyer up to the date that the sale completes however if you require cover for a new property which you are in the process of buying or a property which you have already moved into then you will need to speak to our customer services team to discuss this on 0345 246 3564."

http://faqs.directline.com/help/home-insurance/moving-soon

If you have a look on this website it lists the customer service numbers of a lot of Insurers https://www.saynoto0870.com

Catweazle

That's great, thanks again dacouch :beer: