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House Insurance Issue - I'm not sure if it's covered
ExpressPolarBear
Posts: 14 Forumite
Hi,
I've just part-inherited a house with my two other siblings, after the sad death of my parents. I have some savings as well as the money I will be inheriting as my 1/3 of the inheritance, and was interested in making an offer to my other two siblings to buy them out of their respective shares of the house, and keep the old family home in the family.
But, there could be a big issue. The house is an old farm house. It was built in the 19th century, before the invention of the car, and access would have been my foot and horse / horse and cart. It's down a quite long, and slightly rough and narrow lane, with a couple of significant curves - I'm not sure how the lane came about, but, I think access was originally was from another direction. The surface of the lane can be improved by tarmacking, but it would be next to impossible to widen it, due to buildings and land owned by others, adjoining to the land. Other ways in would also be difficult, and without the purchase of the fields of one farmer or another, who I've no idea if they'd be willing to sell.
My worry is this, *FIRE*, and particularly whether is the house covered for fire damage because of the access problems. My thinking is this, if a fire engine can't get down the lane to put a house fire out, or they refuse to try because they believe they'll get stuck/trapped, is the house actually insurance protected for fire? (my parents actually bought the house right out, so getting a mortgage and insurance wasn't a need for them). It just occurs to me that it's the sort of thing an insurance company could quibble about, and might have "small print" in regards to that would invalidate said insurance with regards to fire.
What complicates things, is one of the other of my siblings is handling the probate for the inheritance/will, and has took care of the insurance in the interim. I'm not sure what the insurance situation was when my parents were alive. The other problem is, both my other siblings have the attitude that if a buyer doesn't ask about any problems before buying, then it's on them, and their liability. So, it's a delicate issue. I'd like to talk to the insurance company and explain the situation with the road access, and whether that invalidates the house insurance for fire, but it'll upset my siblings, and I'm not sure the insurance company would actually talk to me anyway, as I didn't arrange the insurance. I'd highly suspect my sibling hasn't informed them of any issues, also.
What I was thinking of doing, is contacting the fire brigade and asking for a visit, to see what their take would be. Would this be good idea, you think? Could it cause any problems? I'm sure I'm being paranoid, but the fire brigade have no powers to condemn a house if it can't be accessed by fire engine?
And what would it do to the value of a house if it can't be insured for fire? I suspect it would be a significant devaluation, as I see fire as being by far the biggest risk to the house. Also, would it make further planning permission very difficult? There's a barn that's part of the land, which I was thinking would be ripe for a barn conversion, but would that kill any chance of that?
Thanks for any help and advice.
I've just part-inherited a house with my two other siblings, after the sad death of my parents. I have some savings as well as the money I will be inheriting as my 1/3 of the inheritance, and was interested in making an offer to my other two siblings to buy them out of their respective shares of the house, and keep the old family home in the family.
But, there could be a big issue. The house is an old farm house. It was built in the 19th century, before the invention of the car, and access would have been my foot and horse / horse and cart. It's down a quite long, and slightly rough and narrow lane, with a couple of significant curves - I'm not sure how the lane came about, but, I think access was originally was from another direction. The surface of the lane can be improved by tarmacking, but it would be next to impossible to widen it, due to buildings and land owned by others, adjoining to the land. Other ways in would also be difficult, and without the purchase of the fields of one farmer or another, who I've no idea if they'd be willing to sell.
My worry is this, *FIRE*, and particularly whether is the house covered for fire damage because of the access problems. My thinking is this, if a fire engine can't get down the lane to put a house fire out, or they refuse to try because they believe they'll get stuck/trapped, is the house actually insurance protected for fire? (my parents actually bought the house right out, so getting a mortgage and insurance wasn't a need for them). It just occurs to me that it's the sort of thing an insurance company could quibble about, and might have "small print" in regards to that would invalidate said insurance with regards to fire.
What complicates things, is one of the other of my siblings is handling the probate for the inheritance/will, and has took care of the insurance in the interim. I'm not sure what the insurance situation was when my parents were alive. The other problem is, both my other siblings have the attitude that if a buyer doesn't ask about any problems before buying, then it's on them, and their liability. So, it's a delicate issue. I'd like to talk to the insurance company and explain the situation with the road access, and whether that invalidates the house insurance for fire, but it'll upset my siblings, and I'm not sure the insurance company would actually talk to me anyway, as I didn't arrange the insurance. I'd highly suspect my sibling hasn't informed them of any issues, also.
What I was thinking of doing, is contacting the fire brigade and asking for a visit, to see what their take would be. Would this be good idea, you think? Could it cause any problems? I'm sure I'm being paranoid, but the fire brigade have no powers to condemn a house if it can't be accessed by fire engine?
And what would it do to the value of a house if it can't be insured for fire? I suspect it would be a significant devaluation, as I see fire as being by far the biggest risk to the house. Also, would it make further planning permission very difficult? There's a barn that's part of the land, which I was thinking would be ripe for a barn conversion, but would that kill any chance of that?
Thanks for any help and advice.
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Comments
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You are over thinking it. Put the postcode in a comparison site and see what it says.Signature on holiday for two weeks2
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With insurers, you only answer questions that are asked.
In any case, I’ve never heard of the fire service refusing to attend because the access road is too windy or too narrow.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.2 -
If this were a new build with that issue, building control would be insisting you install a VERY big water tank, about 40,000 gallons to provide a local firefighting source.
But as above just try insuring it.2 -
My house had limited access, BC insisted on a sprinkler system which is connected to the mains water (no big tanks).ProDave said:If this were a new build with that issue, building control would be insisting you install a VERY big water tank, about 40,000 gallons to provide a local firefighting source.
But as above just try insuring it.Signature on holiday for two weeks1 -
Hmmm, Not sure about that. I think I'd file it under "due dillegence" 😂. I can't really afford to lose such an amount of money if such as situation happened and they didn't pay out.
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Well, yeah, but if they physically can't get down the road because the van's too big, it's still an issue. The house is far enough from the road entrance that I'm not sure they could even fire a hose of water from the main road, to it.
I'm sure they'd come down on foot to try and rescue people, but having the ability to put the fire out and minimise damage is the issue, here.
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That could maybe provide a solution. How much does that sort of thing cost, if you don't mind me asking?
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Could a fire engine get across a field? the emergency services won't care how they get there and I'm not sure they even need to ask permission.
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That could maybe provide a solution. How much does that sort of thing cost, if you don't mind me asking?
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Sorry for the duplicate posts. Quoting is playing up. Hopefully should work this time.
That could maybe provide a solution. How much does that sort of thing cost, if you don't mind me asking?
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