House insurance during extension

mycastle

I am sure that many many people must have had extensions or building works to their homes carried out - what is the situation with home insurances please

Can anyone on here give me some guidance on insurance to my house while we are having building works to have an extension and to carry out some alterations inside carried out?

We have a home insurance policy but i would like to be prepared before I talk with them as one slip of the tongue could cause me problems im anticipating. I would hate to be caught out and end up uninsured or have my policy cancelled - there always seems to be a question 'Have you ever had an insurance policy cancelled' on the application sites so if it would be cancelled the i would rather do it than have the insurers do it (if you understand me)

I am sure that many many people must have had extensions or building works to their homes carried out - what is the situation with home insurances please


It appears from the comparison websites that very few insurers like to quote via comparison sites , the only one seems to be admiral but i have heard bad things about them generally from car insurance quotes so would like to avoid them really

any advice appreciated or any experiences you have had regarding this please share

Aretnap

I believe that standard policies often don't provide cover during major building works, due to the increased risks of major damage caused by the works, and also the difficulty of keeping the house secure while one of the walls is missing etc. You may have to get specialist cover for the duration of the works which can be hard to find on a bog-standard comparison site. Try speaking to a local insurance broker.

As far as worrying about having your record blighted by a cancellation goes, just make sure that you discuss it with your insurer before any building work actually starts. If they do say "sorry sir, we won't be able to cover you while the work is in progress" you just reply "fair enough - in that case I'd like to cancel (or possibly, suspend) my policy from the date the builders turn up". That may not be the exact way the conversation goes but the effect is the same regardless - you are initiating any cancellation due to a change in your circumstances; they are not cancelling it for dishonesty, non-compliance with the terms and conditions or anything like that.

The only way a notifiable cancellation could even be a possibility would be if you don't tell them in advance, and you end up ringing them and saying "I should have probably told you this two weeks ago, but we've got the builders in and there's a big hole in our wall", in which case you may just get the reply "we're going to have to cancel your policy immediately".

mycastle

Thanks Aretnap, I appreciate your comments

it would be great if anyone else with experience of this situation could share any companies they used and ball park prices

I have found a website which seems to cover it but sends my policy from around £130 to approx £500 so any guidance which might help reduce this is most welcome

paddyandstumpy

You're best bet is your existing insurer, as mentioned above if they refuse it then cancel before they do.

What's the scale of the works?

mycastle

its an single story extension and some non loadbearing alterations inside

paddyandstumpy

Who are you insured with?

mycastle

my insurer

paddyandstumpy

Well they are a Broker so if your holding insurer can't do it they'll find another, I'm sure.

SuzieSue

I don't know why you are worrying about being refused insurance. You just need to tell your current insurers that you are thinking of having an extension built and see what they say. They will not refuse to insure your property just because of the extension but they might well have some additional requirements, similar to if you are going to leave your property empty for several months.

Also, even it they do refuse to insure you because they don't insure properties being extended, which I very much doubt, it is not something you would have to declare because they are not refusing to insure you personally because you have a criminal record etc.

If a landlord wanted to let his property to a tenant on benefits and his current insurers did not cover properties with such tenants then the landlord would have to find another insurer. But you wouldn't have to declare that as being refused insurance because the only reason for it is that the insurance company does not cover tenants on benefits, so they would not cover anyone, not only you.

mycastle

I found this which worried me.... I cant post a link as im new but as its a link to this forum from 2014...

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5094213&highlight=policy+expert+extension



its these guys, and this thread unfortunately did not seem to go well for the OP

SuzieSue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5094213


Yes, but as others said, it is unusual for insurers to cancel a policy. Perhaps it was a budget policy.

But you don't really have any choice but to ring your insurers to check their policy on this. The only other thing you can do is find an insurer which definitely does not mind you having work done and change to them well before the work starts.