House Insurance for Garage Conversion/Annexe

bluehorse230903

Hi. Please could someone give me some advice regarding my house insurance for a garage conversion. We are in the process of converting our garage into a living space which will have one main room with a kitchen area and a separate shower/toilet room. We will use this for my mum to have her own living space so although there will be a door which will connect into our main house via our kitchen we are not going to use this door and she will have her own front door and back door access to the garden. Please could you let me know how I will insure this? Do I have to insure it as an annexe or does it get included in the main house insurance but I increase the number of bedrooms and living rooms etc. Do companies offer conversions insurance. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. 

coachman12

Hi, you should have told your insurers at the planning stage. Do so now and keep them informed.
Given that the rebuild cost to the whole property would be higher, post-new annexe, I would imagine higher premiums almost certain. And don't forget contents' insurance to cover your Mum's stuff.
Get advice online and use comparison sites etc. Good luck and hope your Mum will enjoy her new home.

eddddy

Have you looked into all the planning consent implications, council tax implications of having a "granny annex"?

If not, you probably need to "get your facts clear" before you discuss this with your insurers. Otherwise you might inadvertently say things that would put you in breach of planning regulations and/or increase your council tax liability - when using "a different form of words" could have avoided the problem. 

TELLIT01

House insurance cost won't necessarily go up.  There is no property value stated on our home insurance.  Rebuild value is 'Unlimited'.  I would expect it to be insured as part of the main property, but you do need to inform the insurers.  Contents might be an area to check, as presumably the contents of the annexe will be your mum's, not yours.  She may need to take out contents insurance separately, but your insurer can clarify that.