home insurance - liability for new works

aoleks

hi all,

quick question:

say I have building insurance with a company, any company. during the policy, I get some works done with building control sign off. I then switch to another provider when my policy expires and something goes wrong with the works (extension). it could be next year, in 5 years, in 10 years.

will my insurance at the time cover the additional works? how does this work in practice?

what is normally included and when does something become part of the house as opposed to a running project?

Section62

aoleks said:

hi all,

quick question:

say I have building insurance with a company, any company. during the policy, I get some works done with building control sign off. I then switch to another provider when my policy expires and something goes wrong with the works (extension). it could be next year, in 5 years, in 10 years.

will my insurance at the time cover the additional works? how does this work in practice?

what is normally included and when does something become part of the house as opposed to a running project?

It depends on the insurer(s) involved.

Some won't insure you at all while you have significant (and/or including structural) work being done.

Once the project is complete the added work is part of the property, but you are likely to need to inform the insurer the alterations are complete so they can provide a quotation for the revised policy (assuming they are willing to continue the policy).

DullGreyGuy

aoleks said:

hi all,

quick question:

say I have building insurance with a company, any company. during the policy, I get some works done with building control sign off. I then switch to another provider when my policy expires and something goes wrong with the works (extension). it could be next year, in 5 years, in 10 years.

will my insurance at the time cover the additional works? how does this work in practice?

what is normally included and when does something become part of the house as opposed to a running project?

What do you mean something goes wrong with them?

Home Insurance doesnt cover defective workmanship/design or wear & tear.

So if you mean a car comes off the road and crashes into it then yes, your insurance thats in place on the date of the accident will cover the damage to the extension assuming you have correctly increased your rebuild value and/or room count to factor in the works.

If you mean after 5 years you find the company used playdough rather than mortar between the bricks then no, thats defective workmanship and would be a claim against the builders or their insurers (if the former still exist). If you had legal expenses cover then your current policy may cover the cost of attempting to pursue the builders.

aoleks

DullGreyGuy said:

aoleks said:

hi all,

quick question:

say I have building insurance with a company, any company. during the policy, I get some works done with building control sign off. I then switch to another provider when my policy expires and something goes wrong with the works (extension). it could be next year, in 5 years, in 10 years.

will my insurance at the time cover the additional works? how does this work in practice?

what is normally included and when does something become part of the house as opposed to a running project?

What do you mean something goes wrong with them?

Home Insurance doesnt cover defective workmanship/design or wear & tear.

So if you mean a car comes off the road and crashes into it then yes, your insurance thats in place on the date of the accident will cover the damage to the extension assuming you have correctly increased your rebuild value and/or room count to factor in the works.

If you mean after 5 years you find the company used playdough rather than mortar between the bricks then no, thats defective workmanship and would be a claim against the builders or their insurers (if the former still exist). If you had legal expenses cover then your current policy may cover the cost of attempting to pursue the builders.

that makes some sense. what about subsidence, for example? or something outside my control, such as a collapsed drain under the extension (from the neighbours)? also, what is defective workmanship and how is it proven? if all the paperwork is alright and building control signed it off, would that be enough evidence that a proper builder was used and that standards were followed?

or would the insurer carry out an inspection?

DullGreyGuy

aoleks said:

DullGreyGuy said:

aoleks said:

hi all,

quick question:

say I have building insurance with a company, any company. during the policy, I get some works done with building control sign off. I then switch to another provider when my policy expires and something goes wrong with the works (extension). it could be next year, in 5 years, in 10 years.

will my insurance at the time cover the additional works? how does this work in practice?

what is normally included and when does something become part of the house as opposed to a running project?

What do you mean something goes wrong with them?

Home Insurance doesnt cover defective workmanship/design or wear & tear.

So if you mean a car comes off the road and crashes into it then yes, your insurance thats in place on the date of the accident will cover the damage to the extension assuming you have correctly increased your rebuild value and/or room count to factor in the works.

If you mean after 5 years you find the company used playdough rather than mortar between the bricks then no, thats defective workmanship and would be a claim against the builders or their insurers (if the former still exist). If you had legal expenses cover then your current policy may cover the cost of attempting to pursue the builders.

that makes some sense. what about subsidence, for example? or something outside my control, such as a collapsed drain under the extension (from the neighbours)? also, what is defective workmanship and how is it proven? if all the paperwork is alright and building control signed it off, would that be enough evidence that a proper builder was used and that standards were followed?

or would the insurer carry out an inspection?

Subsidence is the same.... caused by external factors and no issues with the design/workmanship then its covered. If they discover the foundations are only 2cm then its a design/workmanship issue.

If you look at the Financial Ombudsman website you will see a lot of complaints about conservatories that have subsided and moved away from the property etc. The FOS decision almost always comes down to what foundations were put in place and how these measured up to building standards at the time they were built (rather than now)

Building Control alone isnt sufficient, depending on the nature of the claim a loss adjuster, engineer or structural surveyor is appointed by the insurer to oversee the claim for them. They will investigate, or order investigations to determin the cause of the problems and the extent of the damage. During the course of this is when its found that the foundations were too shallow or inappropriate materials were used etc. 

Whilst in those cases the claim is declined the insurer still covers the cost of their investigations. 

aoleks

so by the sound of it I might be ok, foundations are proper 1m deep and 60cm wide with solid, stable ground signed off by building control, walls are ok too. it was more of a generic question about when does something new become part of the original house for insurance purposes, it would be crazy to claim that an extension built 20 years ago that suddenly has an issue is poor workmanship.

thanks all.

DullGreyGuy

aoleks said:

so by the sound of it I might be ok, foundations are proper 1m deep and 60cm wide with solid, stable ground signed off by building control, walls are ok too. it was more of a generic question about when does something new become part of the original house for insurance purposes, it would be crazy to claim that an extension built 20 years ago that suddenly has an issue is poor workmanship.

thanks all.

Most Home insurance excludes cover whilst major works are underway. Once the major works are done you inform your insurers of the changes (sum insured, number of rooms etc depending on the type of policy and what changes you've had done) and they are immediately then on risk for that - there may be an additional premium to pay if its a bedroom rated policy and you've added a new bedroom or increased the rebuild cost etc.

Obviously something that falls down now is more likely to be workmanship/design related than something that happens in 20 years but a brand new extension can be damaged on day 1 by a motorist coming off the road and hitting it just as a 20 year old extension on sub standard foundations can only become apparent after a drought year where your neighbour has also recently planted a host of new trees.

ComicGeek

aoleks said:

it was more of a generic question about when does something new become part of the original house for insurance purposes, it would be crazy to claim that an extension built 20 years ago that suddenly has an issue is poor workmanship.

We had a brick garden wall part collapse in strong winds a couple of years ago. Even though it was built more than 30 years ago and had survived multiple storms/events, the insurers wouldn't cover it as their surveyor concluded that it hadn't been built properly at the time - to be fair, they're probably right given the number of failed garden walls on the estate.

Your building control sign off should give you some comfort - but that still won't prevent your insurer's surveyor from inspecting in fine detail if you ever need to claim.