Will I be covered

Matthewaustin1

I'm a self employed builder and am currently in the process of buying my first home.

The property I am purchasing is in need of refurbishment and the lender has tailored a mortgage that requires work to be done on the property between exchange and completion. Would my public liability insurance cover me whilst doing the required work as it would on any other property I was working on?

Any help appreciated

Sea_Shell

Are you the Director of a limited company or are you a sole trader?

Basically you can't bring a claim against "yourself". You'd also have to prove negligence by the builder.

Matthewaustin1

I am a sole trader.
I'm aware about not being able to bring a claim against myself. The grey area for me is that up until completion the owner of the property would still be the seller so would they be able to claim for the damage against my insurance?

bris

Once you exchange contracts the place is as good as yours. There is no way in the world any insurer is going to cover you for botching your own place. Can you not see where common sense comes in here.


It's open to fraud on a grand scale, you deliberately mess up then claim on your insurance? Never going to happen.

Mistral001

You need to discuss this with your insurance company. You public liability insurance wiil probably still cover you for quite a lot if you make full disclosure to them about this particular situation.

Savvy_Sue

What's coming into my mind is that the OP needs to be insured against the risk of something happening which causes injury or damage to a 3rd party, eg he's left a ladder up against a wall, postman catches his foot in it as he bobs under to deliver a letter, ladder falls sideways and takes the neighbour's fence down, which then crashes into the greenhouse, maybe with the neighbour inside.

No idea if it's possible, but if that's the kind of cover you're after, talk to your insurer! If no joy there, see if you can find a broker who understands what you need.

And I cross posted with Mistral.

Mistral001

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

What's coming into my mind is that the OP needs to be insured against the risk of something happening which causes injury or damage to a 3rd party, eg he's left a ladder up against a wall, postman catches his foot in it as he bobs under to deliver a letter, ladder falls sideways and takes the neighbour's fence down, which then crashes into the greenhouse, maybe with the neighbour inside.

No idea if it's possible, but if that's the kind of cover you're after, talk to your insurer! If no joy there, see if you can find a broker who understands what you need.

And I cross posted with Mistral.

yes that is what I was thinking and why I mentioned that he will probably still be covered as that is what public liability insurance is all about. I do not think it covers you for defects in your workmanship. The OP needs to discuss with insurer.