First time buyer - building insurance. What date to start?

dn852k4

We're coming upto exchanging contracts. On one of the forms it is asking for draft policy number or quotation reference.

I'm a bit stuck on this as on the insurance comparison sites they ask me to choose a date that the insurance should start from. I've not been given an exchange date as of yet, but it seems I need one obtain an insurance policy, however my convenyancer needs an insurance policy number before they can give me an exchange date??

The house we're buying is currently vacant and will be until completion day - do we need a specialist policy to cover between exchange and completion as it seems insurance companies don't like a house left empty?

I want to make sure I get the correct policy as I understand that if anything happens to the property between exchange and completion we still have to continue with the purchase? Therefore I want adequate cover in place.

Any help or advice would be appreciated! 

eddddy

In your position, I'd pick a start date that you hope to exchange, and use that to get a quotation. You'll be able to change the start date later.

How long are you planning between exchange and completion - i.e. how long will you be insuring an unoccupied property?  Often, policies allow the property to be empty for up to 30 days.


Again, what I would do, is get a quote from the website (but not buy the policy yet), then phone the insurer's customer service number and explain about the empty property etc, and see if it's a problem.

If they say it's not a problem, that's fine. (That's much safer than relying on opinions of people here.)

The insurance company will record calls like that - so if you want, you can keep a note of the date, time and number you called from. Then if there's any dispute later, they should be able to find the call recording and check what they told you.

user1977

dn852k4 said:

my convenyancer needs an insurance policy number before they can give me an exchange date??

They don't really. Talk to them about it, they should at most check with you on the date of exchange that your insurance is starting then.

shorty31

Are you buying with a Mortgage?  Some mortgage companies offer building  insurance between exchange and completion, might be worth checking yours.

Rambosmum

Put in expected/ hoped date of exchange. You can buy a policy in under 30minutes, so it's not a huge issue - I bought one as soon as we knew we were exchanging, the first I could find. I then cancelled it in the 14day cooling off period afyer shopping around.

canaldumidi

This, but:

eddddy said:

In your position, I'd pick a start date that you hope to exchange, and use that to get a quotation. You'll be able to change the start date later. Correct

How long are you planning between exchange and completion - i.e. how long will you be insuring an unoccupied property?  Often, policies allow the property to be empty for up to 30, 45 or 60  days. Choose a policy with an appropriate definition of 'unoccupied'.

Again, what I would do, is get a quote from the website (but not buy the policy yet), then phone the insurer's customer service number and explain about the empty property etc, and see if it's a problem. You'll open a canof worms! Read the policy and ensure it covers you for 'unoccupied' for an appropriate number of days.....

If they say it's not a problem, that's fine. Read the policy (That's much safer than relying on opinions of people here.)

The insurance company will record calls like that - so if you want, you can keep a note of the date, time and number you called from. Then if there's any dispute later, they should be able to find the call recording and check what they told you.

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