Buildings Insurance and Building Regs

ML740

I'm currently looking to buy a house, however we have come across a possible issue which I'm finding a little tricky to resolve.

In short, the house has had an internal load bearing wall removed and an RSJ installed in its place. The issue is that we do not believe this work has been signed off by building control.

I'm aware that indemnity insurance is used to cover any enforcement by the council, that's not an issue. However I am struggling with finding an answer as to whether a buildings insurance policy will typically cover the house without any major exclusions? Any advice?

Thanks

eddddy

ML740 wrote: »

I'm aware that indemnity insurance is used to cover any enforcement by the council, that's not an issue. However I am struggling with finding an answer as to whether a buildings insurance policy will typically the house without any major exclusions? Any advice?

This isn't really relevant for buildings insurance.

Buildings insurance covers things like:

• fire, explosion, storms, floods, earthquakes
• theft, attempted theft and vandalism
• frozen and burst pipes
• fallen trees, lampposts, aerials or satellite dishes
• subsidence
• vehicle or aircraft collisions.

Having a wall removed doesn't really affect any of those risks - so the insurers aren't really interested.

If the ceiling just falls down, it will be due to poor workmanship or poor materials. No insurance policy will cover you for that, whether you have building regs sign-off or not.


(If you had dodgy electrics done without building regs sign-off, and they caused a fire - that might cause the insurers to ask questions - because fire is an insured risk.)

davidmcn

Not sure why this red herring comes up so often - it's not relevant for buildings insurance. A huge proportion of housing stock has had work done without consent (or without any paperwork to prove that it had consent). I've never encountered an insurer asking a relevant question. As above, insurance won't protect you from the house falling down due to shoddy workmanship, whether or not the work had consents.