Buildings insurance at point of exchange

Chappers62

Tips please. We are moving to a new house with exchange pending in a few weeks time. We have been advised we have to have building insurance in place on our new house on date of exchange - date currently unknown but to get the best deals on house insurance you have to buy it about 3 weeks in advance. How do I get around this if I don;t know the exchange date?

pinkteapot

1. Get quotes and put the start date down as the expected exchange date
2. Tell your solicitor who you're going to get the insurance from
3. As soon as you've exchanged contracts, accept the quote (amending the start date if necessary if it's moved a bit)

However, three weeks in advance is optimistic - I've always done it a couple of days beforehand when exchange is imminent. Who says insurance is cheaper in advance? I've never noticed a difference at renewal when I've got quotes varying amounts of time before the renewal date...

davidmcn

Buildings insurance usually costs peanuts anyway, so I doubt you're missing out on any bargains by not getting it weeks in advance.

Mutton_Geoff

davidmcn wrote: »

Buildings insurance usually costs peanuts anyway, so I doubt you're missing out on any bargains by not getting it weeks in advance.

Although buildings insurance is cheaper, you'll want contents insurance from completion in any case, so I suggest buying a combined policy from the start as they are cheaper than two stand alone policies with differing start/end dates within weeks of each other.


Just bear in mind the contents policy won't cover much until you move into the address covered.

Oxid8uk

Do you currently have house insurance (buildings and contents)? When we moved from one property to another we just added building insurance for the new place onto the existing policy from the date of exchange and then on completion it all moved over from the old house to the new one.

We just called up to get a quote to do this with an expected exchange date and was told to contact them on the day we exchanged to activate it and tell them the confirmed completion date.

Arthritic_Toe

Why do you think insurance is cheaper in advance? I've never heard that one. It isn't a train ticket.

Slithery

Chappers62 wrote: »

...but to get the best deals on house insurance you have to buy it about 3 weeks in advance.

Really? Where did you hear that?

Oxid8uk

Slithery wrote: »

Really? Where did you hear that?

Not long ago on one of Martin's TV programs he said that car insurance renewals tend to be cheaper 21 days before the renewal date, increasing in price as the renewal date gets closer. Whether the same is true for house insurance or for new policies I don't know.

G_M

Yes, shop around in advance.


You may need some information you don't have, but may be able to get it if you have time eg
* type of dor locks
* local neighbourhood watch
* tile/slate roof? amount of flat roof etc

Then use comparison sites using your expected exchange date. Download the 2 or 3 preferred insurers' policy documents and compare them. Choose you preferred one (and if asked, show it to your lender's solicitor).


Wait for Exchange. as soon as you are told Exchange has happened, go online or phone the company, change the start date if necessary, and pay the premium.


If you have a gap between exchange and completion, you could wait till completion to take out contents cover, but frankly it's easier to do both together even if you end up with contents cover for a couple of weeks before you move any contents ito the propety.