When to arrange home insurance from?

parkingadvice1212

I got a letter from my solicitor this morning that the seller is 'in a position to exchange'. I confirmed that he should proceed and received a further letter stating that he will advise when exchange has taken place.
I have no idea how long this will take - will it be today, tomorrow, friday, next week...?
Is it safe to only purchase the home insurance policy immediately following confirmation that exchange has taken place? Or should I just buy it right now?

parkingadvice1212

Also, can anyone help with a question about mortgage payment please?
When I applied for the mortgage I set the direct debit to be the 1st of the each month. We are completing on the 2nd March. Does that mean that the first payment will be on the 1st April, and it will be double?

greatcrested

Do your search for buildings insurance now (comparison sites etc) and select your insurer/quote. Check policy carefully - don't automaticall choose the cheapest!

Then as soon as your solicitor informs you Exchange has taken place, activate/pay for the policy.

Contents insurance if you want it could wait till Completion (or whenver you move in), though it's probably easier to do both together even if that means a few days/weeks contents cover before you've moved contents into the poperty.

AdrianC

Once both sides are ready, willing, and able to exchange - then the actual exchange is a single phone call or email between the solicitors.

Get all the quotes done, decide who you're going to insure with, then you can just buy the policy in seconds flat once you've got confirmation that you've exchanged.

And... CONGRATS!

parkingadvice1212

greatcrested said:

Do your search for buildings insurance now (comparison sites etc) and select your insurer/quote. Check policy carefully - don't automaticall choose the cheapest!

Then as soon as your solicitor informs you Exchange has taken place, activate/pay for the policy.

Contents insurance if you want it could wait till Completion (or whenver you move in), though it's probably easier to do both together even if that means a few days/weeks contents cover before you've moved contents into the poperty.

Thank you, I'll do that.
Do you know if Direct Line are any good for home insurance? I'm going to be taking out car insurance with them, so perhaps it'd be easier (or they may even give me a discount?) if I took out their home insurance policy as well. Their prices are coming up about £30 more than the cheapest on comparison sites.

greatcrested

Try the insurance board for reommendations, but compare the DL policy with the cheapest you've found. You have read the policy document, yes?

Irishpearce26

parkingadvice1212 said:

Also, can anyone help with a question about mortgage payment please?
When I applied for the mortgage I set the direct debit to be the 1st of the each month. We are completing on the 2nd March. Does that mean that the first payment will be on the 1st April, and it will be double?

What may happen here is that you complete on 2nd March, lender has released funds and your first payment will be on the 1st April. Its unlikely it will be double but will include what is called initial interest, this is the interest amount covering the period of 2nd March to 1st April. In my case my mortgage payment will be £1082 per month, my first payment will be £1770 as this includes the initial interest for the period of time between releasing the funds to when i make the first payment.

MaryNB

parkingadvice1212 said:

Also, can anyone help with a question about mortgage payment please?
When I applied for the mortgage I set the direct debit to be the 1st of the each month. We are completing on the 2nd March. Does that mean that the first payment will be on the 1st April, and it will be double?

Check with your lender to see what it's procedures are with regards to first payment.

In my case I completed on the 27th of November and chose the 1st of each month as the payment date. Because there were fewer than 4 working days left at the of November my first payment wasn't taken out until the 10th of December as per Halifax's terms.