Buildings insurance - in who’s name?

CEEMDE

Hi, long story short I have a property which is mortgage free and currently my adult children live there, just paying the bills as I don’t want or need rental income (acknowledge I am fortunate to be able to do this). I have moved out to live with my fiancé and my daughter is in the process of buying her own house which will leave my son in charge until he is ready to move on. My house insurance is due for renewal early March so I thought it would be good for my son to start insuring the buildings and contents, build up his no claims etc for when he moves on. Cancelled my auto renewal yesterday and the current insurers told me that my son can’t insure buildings as he is not the house owner? They said I should get landlord buildings insurance but I’m not officially renting it to him - it’s the family home and I don’t take money from them other than to pay any bills which are still in my name.
Can my son get buildings and contents insurance? Or do I look at a joint policy with him? But if I am not living there, what might this mean? Landlord insurance is crazy expensive compared to what I’ve been paying.
Thoughts gratefully received.

davidmcn

Buildings insurance is for whoever is responsible for repairs. Which is generally the owner, unless you've set up a lease making your son responsible for e.g. rebuilding the house in the event of damage. 

Similarly, whoever owns the contents should be insuring.

Anunnaki

It appears you are a Landlord. 

I have always  received very good Landlords insurance.

Last one from Aviva £145 with £95 cash back, already recieved from TCB.

Mutch  cheaper than I pay for my own.

Sandtree

CEEMDE said:

Can my son get buildings and contents insurance? Or do I look at a joint policy with him? But if I am not living there, what might this mean? Landlord insurance is crazy expensive compared to what I’ve been paying.

To be able to insurer it he must have a financial interest in the property, the simplest route therefore is to draw up a contract that he gets to live there rent free in exchange for full responsibility for all repairs and maintenance and that he must keep the building insured at all times... if you want to avoid the argument that there is no contract without consideration then set an annual rent of £1.

CEEMDE

Sandtree said:

CEEMDE said:

Can my son get buildings and contents insurance? Or do I look at a joint policy with him? But if I am not living there, what might this mean? Landlord insurance is crazy expensive compared to what I’ve been paying.

To be able to insurer it he must have a financial interest in the property, the simplest route therefore is to draw up a contract that he gets to live there rent free in exchange for full responsibility for all repairs and maintenance and that he must keep the building insured at all times... if you want to avoid the argument that there is no contract without consideration then set an annual rent of £1.

 My word this is a can a worms for something I thought so very simple. I’ve actually got a landlord buildings quote in joint names for my son and I which is just £6 short of my original renewal. It’s with Aviva following recommendation above - I will give Aviva a call before parting with £ just to make sure that I’m not missing something vital.
just want to say thank you to everyone for your advice - it’s really appreciated. Such a minefield.

davidmcn

I got best price from LV for a similar situation, quite a bit cheaper than the "landlord" policies.

CEEMDE

davidmcn said:

I got best price from LV for a similar situation, quite a bit cheaper than the "landlord" policies.

I’ll take a look at them too - thank you 🙏 

Sandtree

The problem with the joint policyholder approach is that there is normally a declaration that each policyholder is using the property as their main residence which wont be the case for the OP. If the insurer says they are comfortable with it then thats fine but just because one insurer is dont assume that all will be

CEEMDE

Thanks everyone for your help. I have just bought a policy with LV having rung them up to check it was all okay to proceed knowing that it was a family “rent” and therefore less hoops to jump through compared to a proper tenant. My buildings and all the contents are covered for less than my last year renewal so I’m very happy. Plus it’s in joint names with my son so it feels like it’s more geared to us as a family rather than me individually. Yes, I am a landlord in insurance eyes but I’m glad I found the answers and solutions here first.
Really grateful for all your help. Thank you.