Insurance for House, Annex & Land 2 December 2022 at 5:41PM in Insurance & life assurance 11 replies 138 views

Oly

Hi,

We're after some advice to source insurance for our house, separate annex (garage/home office/guest room) and 2 acres of land (garden and hay meadow).

Pre Covid we ran the site as an Airbnb and caravan site, insured through the NFU. This was expensive and costs were increasing significantly year on year. 

After closing the site we found that Churchill Home Plus covered the separate building and land for a lot less, but again this has increased, this year from £375 to £450.

Home offices, and large gardens, are not overly uncommon these days so we thought we'd ask; 

Does anyone know of any other providers that provide this type of cover?

Thanks

DullGreyGuy

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

Oly

DullGreyGuy said:

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

When ringing around last time and asking those specific questions most outbuildings are limited to a shed or garage.

Likewise land is generally limited to an acre.

The problem is price and knowing who else to ask for a quote to shop around. 

DullGreyGuy

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

When ringing around last time and asking those specific questions most outbuildings are limited to a shed or garage.

Likewise land is generally limited to an acre.

The problem is price and knowing who else to ask for a quote to shop around. 

I suspect you are asking Qs the agent's havent been asked before and they've fudged an answer... have never seen a policybook which states a maximum garden size

dunstonh

If you are no longer running the site commercially, then try NFU again.  Usually, it is the commercial activity that tends to send the premium higher.

Oly

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

When ringing around last time and asking those specific questions most outbuildings are limited to a shed or garage.

Likewise land is generally limited to an acre.

The problem is price and knowing who else to ask for a quote to shop around. 

I suspect you are asking Qs the agent's havent been asked before and they've fudged an answer... have never seen a policybook which states a maximum garden size

No I specifically got them to check to avoid that issue

DullGreyGuy

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

When ringing around last time and asking those specific questions most outbuildings are limited to a shed or garage.

Likewise land is generally limited to an acre.

The problem is price and knowing who else to ask for a quote to shop around. 

I suspect you are asking Qs the agent's havent been asked before and they've fudged an answer... have never seen a policybook which states a maximum garden size

No I specifically got them to check to avoid that issue

Can you recall any that mentioned about the large garden? Easy enough to check their policybooks. In theory an insurer could limit it just never seen one in my years. 

Oly

dunstonh said:

If you are no longer running the site commercially, then try NFU again.  Usually, it is the commercial activity that tends to send the premium higher.

We did at the time, but they were still a way off domestic policies.  As were iFarm and a couple of other smallholder insurance firms. It seems a very limited market though hence the request

Oly

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

When ringing around last time and asking those specific questions most outbuildings are limited to a shed or garage.

Likewise land is generally limited to an acre.

The problem is price and knowing who else to ask for a quote to shop around. 

I suspect you are asking Qs the agent's havent been asked before and they've fudged an answer... have never seen a policybook which states a maximum garden size

No I specifically got them to check to avoid that issue

Can you recall any that mentioned about the large garden? Easy enough to check their policybooks. In theory an insurer could limit it just never seen one in my years. 

It was the underwriters who they were checking with and it was them who set the limit. 

DullGreyGuy

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

When ringing around last time and asking those specific questions most outbuildings are limited to a shed or garage.

Likewise land is generally limited to an acre.

The problem is price and knowing who else to ask for a quote to shop around. 

I suspect you are asking Qs the agent's havent been asked before and they've fudged an answer... have never seen a policybook which states a maximum garden size

No I specifically got them to check to avoid that issue

Can you recall any that mentioned about the large garden? Easy enough to check their policybooks. In theory an insurer could limit it just never seen one in my years. 

It was the underwriters who they were checking with and it was them who set the limit. 

If the insurers were setting the limit then it has to be in the policybook and their online quote & buy system has to either ask the size of the plot of land or have a declaration that the plot is below a certain size. Just go onto confused.com or other aggregator of your choice and you'll see a lack of this question and/or declaration. 

Oly

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Oly said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Most insurances have cover for outbuildings, though subsidence may be limited to cases which also impact the main building but the likes of Aviva dont differentiate. For Contents the inner-limit can be restrictive but you havent suggested your large wine collection is in an outbuilding.

Gardens again, size isnt asked about. You may have inner limit issues but that depends on just how much garden furniture etc you have in it rather than size.

Maybe easier to say what exact problems you are having?

When ringing around last time and asking those specific questions most outbuildings are limited to a shed or garage.

Likewise land is generally limited to an acre.

The problem is price and knowing who else to ask for a quote to shop around. 

I suspect you are asking Qs the agent's havent been asked before and they've fudged an answer... have never seen a policybook which states a maximum garden size

No I specifically got them to check to avoid that issue

Can you recall any that mentioned about the large garden? Easy enough to check their policybooks. In theory an insurer could limit it just never seen one in my years. 

It was the underwriters who they were checking with and it was them who set the limit. 

If the insurers were setting the limit then it has to be in the policybook and their online quote & buy system has to either ask the size of the plot of land or have a declaration that the plot is below a certain size. Just go onto confused.com or other aggregator of your choice and you'll see a lack of this question and/or declaration. 

I thought that too but it turns out that isn't always correct. Some do specify acreage, most garden, but as stated, this is also hay meadow... plus the Annex issue