Sellers wants long gap between exchange and complete

rich.mike

It was a deal with HSBC as my mortgage will be with them. I get free contents insurance when I purchase building insurance. Seems to cover everything I need bar my expensive bikes, I will invest in a good bike storage system!

kingstreet

You can't start contents cover from exchange of contracts as you have no insurable interest in the contents of the house.

You have an insurable interest in the building because your contract states you have a legal obligation to purchase it at a future date.

rich.mike

Can I purchase a standard home insurance policy? I'm assuming I have to let them know the property is between exchange and complete?

Thrugelmir

rich.mike wrote: »

Looking to exchange in the next couple of weeks or so.

What has your solicitor said?

rich.mike

Basically that he can only advise on the legal side of things, the gap between exchange and complete is between me and the sellers.

Should exchange by the end of this month, leaving a 2 month gap.

stator

That's still a long time for many things to go wrong.

Voyager2002

kingstreet wrote: »

You can't start contents cover from exchange of contracts as you have no insurable interest in the contents of the house.

You have an insurable interest in the building because your contract states you have a legal obligation to purchase it at a future date.

In my experience, solicitors arrange "exchange to completion" insurance of the property. This is separate from the household insurance that should be in place once the purchase is complete.

pjread

I'd want to drop my additional costs off the offer personally - e.g. "Ok you can save your 5k, but I'm going to be out a grand or so due to XYZ as a result of completing later so will be reducing my offer by that".

Unless you've zero costs and feel you've already agreed a great price etc...

pinkteapot

We had a long gap (almost two months) between exchange and completion. Everyone was ready to exchange but we couldn't agree a completion date for a while due to holidays, work commitments and people in our chain having operations(!).

With the length of the chain, we were more than happy to get exchanged because we were worried about losing the house and could relax once contracts were exchanged.

Your biggest problem will be the insurance. You need to inform the insurer that you're not yet living in the property. The first few I phoned said their computers couldn't handle that long a timescale for exchange to completion - they normally have a two week limit for cover without you living in the house. We ended up having to go with a high-end insurer for our first year, who had more flexibility. Don't just take out insurance online - phone and tell them that you need buildings cover from the exchange date, but tell them when you'll be moving in. They are used to providing cover from exchange but, as I said, our timescale caused some issues.

As kingstreet said, just have buildings cover from exchange then phone the insurer a couple of days before completion to add contents cover to the policy.

I actually liked having a long gap and found it really relaxing. We had loads of time to arrange removals, order new furniture, etc. I think I ended up arranging deliveries from four different companies for the day after completion. It was like Christmas.

rich.mike

Thanks pinkteapot,

I would like the security of exchanging now and the gap gives me an extra 2 months saving (around £1100) so this will help with purchases such as sofas and paint. I'm really excited and have started planning where everything will go - slightly premature I know!

I guess I'll have to look into buildings insurance more closely than I had anticipated, I'll ask my solicitor today if they have any contacts (but will watch the price!)