Attic room without building regulations

eddddy

Robert_harvey said:

Well it definitely wouldn't pass with todays standards because theres no smoke alarm, insulations mostly rockwool, just a normal door but whatever. Insurance was my concern

If the insurer's cared about lack of building regs, they would ask questions about them in their application forms - and they don't.

If a 'reasonable lay-person' would consider the attic room to be a bedroom, then count it as a bedroom in the insurance application forms. Then feel free to use it as a bedroom, if you wish.

If you want to be super sure, phone the insurance company, tell them you have an attic room and ask if you should count it as a bedroom.

(But maybe don't use the term 'building regulations'. Anecdotally, people say the insurance company agents aren't familiar with that term, and so it results in massive confusion.)

Robert_harvey said:

We were told to use it for storage only. 

Who told you this, and what reasons did they give?

I think you might be taking a comment somebody made out of context, or perhaps taking a comment too literally.

Robert_harvey

My solicitor told me this when we bought the house. We used a good insurance broker who said the same. Mortgage company insisted on indemnity insurance because of the lack of regs but i think thats a bit different. They refused to release the cash even though the council can't act on it anyway. Im sure the paper the indemnity insurance is written on is worth more.  

eddddy

Robert_harvey said:

My solicitor told me this when we bought the house. We used a good insurance broker who said the same. Mortgage company insisted on indemnity insurance because of the lack of regs but i think thats a bit different. They refused to release the cash even though the council can't act on it anyway. Im sure the paper the indemnity insurance is written on is worth more.  

In that case, ask your solicitor and your insurers what the consequences would be if you put a bed in the attic room and used it as a bedroom and declared it to your insurers as a bedroom.

I'm pretty sure the answer would be - no consequences at all.

dunstonh

TELLIT01 said:

davidmcn said:

Doesn't matter for buildings insurance purposes. If the insurers cared about such things, they'd ask the question. They don't. But bear in mind insurance only covers you for the stated risks - fire, yes, but not fixing shoddy workmanship if it turns out the conversion was done badly.

There was a case shown on TV certainly in the past couple of years where initially an insurer refused to pay out because the property had been described as 4 bedroom but had a room in the attic.  This despite the fact that it couldn't comply with building regs.  If the question is asked I would declare it as a bedroom, or call the insurer to ask what they advise.

It was quite a high profile case as the property had been sold as having 7 bedrooms but it was originally a 5 bedroom. The attic section had been converted to two rooms and then marketed for sale as 7 bedrooms.  The people bought it with that description but went on to take out a bedroom rated policy saying 5 bedrooms.  

The key things were that the insurer did not cover houses with more than 5 bedrooms.  So, it would never have offered cover in the first place.     The homeowner had a bed, heating and wardrobe in one of the attic rooms clearly showing it being used as a bedroom (even though it was a spare).  The homeowner, however, was quoted in the press as saying  'Installing a radiator, cupboard and throwing a bed in a small room does not make it suitable sleeping accommodation."

The insurance question asked fort he number of bedrooms including those that now have another purpose.  The homeowner didn't declare them.  It also asked how many other receptions rooms there were.  he failed to notify them there either.

The Ombudsman report reads: 'Taking a common sense approach, I think most people would consider upstairs rooms within a house as bedrooms.   Provided there was enough space for a bed, the room was heated and had a window. I don't think that whether a room has been signed off as a building regulation compliant bedroom is relevant.'