Home Insurance - Exchange of Contract

Mani_London

Hi,
I am FTB and buying a freehold mid terrace. We are looking (fingers crossed) to exchange on Monday 1st of March and completion in 2 weeks time on Friday 12th of March (fingers crossed). I have been told i need to have a property insurance at the time of exchange. But I have read on forum that sometimes exchange doesn't happens because of any issue. So what can i do about insurance. I would like to take out Property and content insurance at the same time. What if i take out the insurance and exchange doesn't happen on 1st of march, then what are my options ? Or is there a way that i can get a quote and then start the insurance as soon as i get a confirmation exchange is happening ?
Please advise how can i go about that ?
Many Thanks
Mani

davidmcn

Yes, you can get quotes whenever you want. Your solicitor will tell you on the date of exchange whether it's happening or not, so you wait for the call and then arrange it.

Mani_London

davidmcn said:

Yes, you can get quotes whenever you want. Your solicitor will tell you on the date of exchange whether it's happening or not, so you wait for the call and then arrange it.

Thanks davidmcn. So it is like car insurance when you're buying a new car. get the quote by putting a tentative date. As soon as date is confirmed you can call the desired insurance company and get the insurance. I have read it is a good idea to get property and content insurance at the same time ? as i am FTB, i might be buying few expensive things later like TV, Fridge etc. If i change it i have to pay a fee like other insurance ?
Also bank suggested the reinstatement cost will be around £160K and my home buyer reports suggests £225K ? What do you think is a good figure to use for a quote ? As i have read here on forum that bigger the amount the expensive the insurance will be
Thanks

Aretnap

The difference between putting down £160K or £225K is likely to be a few pounds, if anything at all. Many insurers give a blanket amount of cover (eg £250K for a small house, £500K for a large house) regardless of the actual rebuild cost. Certainly making sure that you are not under insured is a lot more important than shaving a couple of pounds off the premium, so I suggest using the estimate from your home buyer report. 

Mani_London

Aretnap said:

The difference between putting down £160K or £225K is likely to be a few pounds, if anything at all. Many insurers give a blanket amount of cover (eg £250K for a small house, £500K for a large house) regardless of the actual rebuild cost. Certainly making sure that you are not under insured is a lot more important than shaving a couple of pounds off the premium, so I suggest using the estimate from your home buyer report. 

 Aretnap: I was reading Martin Lewis gudie on this and as per him you should not declare too much value when you know the actual amount is way too low. As you mentioned there are blanket cover amounts, i will go for £250k as that will cover it. 

Mani_London

Hi All,

Just a quick question as i was getting some quotes in regards to building insurance and content as well. I am FTB and we do not have much expensive stuff. We have an old TV but we will buy new one in future (not anytime soon). We both have good work laptops and our personal is alright and its around £350 maximum (current value). Other than that we have iphones and nothing that expensive. We have have some jewellery etc. Do you think we should get content insurance now as we dont know how expensive our furniture is going to be or TV etc. Should i just get building insurance and once we have bought our maximum stuff then get the content insuracne. I believe it will easily take 8-10 months before we are fully settled. 

davidmcn

A few thousand here or there is going to make very little difference to the premium, it's not normal to adjust it just because you've acquired or got rid of one or two things. I would just estimate the maximum value of stuff you're likely to have during the year.

eddddy

Mani_London said:

We both have good work laptops and our personal is alright and its around £350 maximum (current value).

When you say "work laptops" do you mean that they're owned by your employer?  If so, it's probably up to your employer to insure them against loss, theft etc, so you wouldn't include them in the contents value. (Although many employers would self-insure - i.e. just pay for new laptops to replace any stolen or damaged ones.)

If you want to be extra sure, you could ask your employer if you're required to insure the laptops, and/or if you'd be responsible for theft, damage etc. 

Also, if you regularly work from home, you might have to specify that in your insurance application. (But if it's temporarily, due to covid, many insurers don't need you to declare that.)

Sandtree

eddddy said:
Also, if you regularly work from home, you might have to specify that in your insurance application. (But if it's temporarily, due to covid, many insurers don't need you to declare that.)

Most insurers do allow clerical work from home as standard but its certainly worth checking even if its only during covid.