Insurance provider that is happy with renting parking space?

occasionaltable

reposted from the 'Rent out your parking space' board on advice

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I'm hoping someone can help me with this -

I'm trying to set up a spare parking space on my property driveway on one of the sites such as yourparkingspace.com.  I did the due diligence as recommended on the MSE page and checked with the council and the mortgage people and they are both OK with it, but the house insurance (Hastings) said if I do this they will cancel my policy as renting out the space on my drive counts as running a business.

So either I forget the whole thing, or I find an insurance company that is fine with it and I move to them.

Does anyone who has already done this have any recommendations for a Home Insurance provider that will be OK with this?

Many thanks, OT

huckster

Coop Home Insurance used to be good with business from home risks. Enquire with them.

meramente

My insurance company, MoreThan, will not insure me if I rent my driveway. Has been Coop, or any other company, ok with this? does the premium goes up a lot?

Thanks!

DullGreyGuy

meramente said:

My insurance company, MoreThan, will not insure me if I rent my driveway. Has been Coop, or any other company, ok with this? does the premium goes up a lot?

Presumably you have declared this as business use of your property? I doubt many insurers would be happy with the increased public liability exposure it creates. 

meramente

@DullGreyGuy

Thanks for your reply!

No, I did not declare it as business use. I called MoreThan to enquire if my existing buildings and contents policy would allow me to rent out my driveway during weekdays.

MoreThan contacted the underwriter because this was the first time they have been contacted about renting driveways. The underwriter said no and I was not given any options, apart from two weeks to find another insurer if I were to rent the driveway (which I am not renting).

DullGreyGuy

Under the law for consumer insurance the insurer can only require you to answer defined questions and not expect you to offer up additional information that may be relevant but they don't ask about. So on the one hand if they don't ask, you don't have to tell but there is one shortfall in this approach in that the policy wording may explicitly exclude something. Whilst most motor insurance is sold in a non-advised manor so its legally up to the consumer to make sure the policy is appropriate many would have questions or stated assumptions to exclude anyone that would hit up against blanket exclusions. 

The above effectively was going to be my first response to your question but then it got me thinking of if typically there is any question that covers this and hence my alternative initial question as it may be considered "a business" and therefore business use however its not that dissimilar to having a lodger which most insurers will cover however Theft section is normally endorsed to say it requires evidence of violent or forced entry (budget policies always need this but better policies for family only homes typically don't). 

Chances are most people don't think about it, don't mention it to their insurers as they aren't directly asked and they don't consider it "business" and so only cross the bridge in the event of a claim and the insurer somehow finds out about it then. 

meramente

DullGreyGuy said:

Under the law for consumer insurance the insurer can only require you to answer defined questions and not expect you to offer up additional information that may be relevant but they don't ask about. So on the one hand if they don't ask, you don't have to tell but there is one shortfall in this approach in that the policy wording may explicitly exclude something. Whilst most motor insurance is sold in a non-advised manor so its legally up to the consumer to make sure the policy is appropriate many would have questions or stated assumptions to exclude anyone that would hit up against blanket exclusions. 

The above effectively was going to be my first response to your question but then it got me thinking of if typically there is any question that covers this and hence my alternative initial question as it may be considered "a business" and therefore business use however its not that dissimilar to having a lodger which most insurers will cover however Theft section is normally endorsed to say it requires evidence of violent or forced entry (budget policies always need this but better policies for family only homes typically don't). 

Chances are most people don't think about it, don't mention it to their insurers as they aren't directly asked and they don't consider it "business" and so only cross the bridge in the event of a claim and the insurer somehow finds out about it then. 

Thanks a lot, a very useful insight!

M