Buildings Insurance between Exchange and Completion - who's responsibility?

user1977

What_time_is_it said:

DullGreyGuy said:

EssexHebridean said:

I was a little sneaky when I renewed our contents insurance on our flat last year. The renewal was just over a week before we moved. I left it to the last minute (which I wouldn't usually do) meaning I was then in a position to simply cancel under the 14 day cooling off period once we had actually moved.  As I say - that was contents only though - I'm not sure I would have taken the same approach had it been buildings, in case anything surfaced retrospectively... 

It's not sneaky at all, the same cancellation fees can apply during the cooling off period as after it. Any new policy you had bought instead of renewing would have had a cooling off period.

But presumably, cancellation would than mean that you weren't actually covered during those 14 days. So, as @EssexHebridean says, if a problem subsequently arose that had occurred during those 14 days, there would be no cover in place at all?

I'm not sure that's the case, but anyway, in this scenario you'd be cancelling it after completion of the sale, so what insured problems would be your responsibility?

DullGreyGuy

What_time_is_it said:

DullGreyGuy said:

EssexHebridean said:

I was a little sneaky when I renewed our contents insurance on our flat last year. The renewal was just over a week before we moved. I left it to the last minute (which I wouldn't usually do) meaning I was then in a position to simply cancel under the 14 day cooling off period once we had actually moved.  As I say - that was contents only though - I'm not sure I would have taken the same approach had it been buildings, in case anything surfaced retrospectively... 

It's not sneaky at all, the same cancellation fees can apply during the cooling off period as after it. Any new policy you had bought instead of renewing would have had a cooling off period.

But presumably, cancellation would than mean that you weren't actually covered during those 14 days. So, as @EssexHebridean says, if a problem subsequently arose that had occurred during those 14 days, there would be no cover in place at all?

It will be cancelled from the date of cancellation, they won't back date the cancellation to inception. That is only done in response to complaints etc when the policyholder contracted before renewal and the agent didnt key it in correctly etc. 

What_time_is_it

Thanks guys. That looks like it's the way for us to proceed then.
Fingers crossed for completion within 2 weeks!!

RHemmings

theartfullodger said:

Nobody HAS to have insurance cover (although mortgage offer may demand it) but you'd be mad not to have it 

I was shocked how little my buildings and contents insurance is. Not having had buildings insurance before I thought it would be very expensive. I'm with Admiral, and I don't have their cheapest product. It's costing me £280 per year. Contents alone for last year wasn't far below that. 

DullGreyGuy

RHemmings said:

theartfullodger said:

Nobody HAS to have insurance cover (although mortgage offer may demand it) but you'd be mad not to have it 

I was shocked how little my buildings and contents insurance is. Not having had buildings insurance before I thought it would be very expensive. I'm with Admiral, and I don't have their cheapest product. It's costing me £280 per year. Contents alone for last year wasn't far below that. 

The UK average combined home insurance premium is £212 as at September last year which is a 25% jump or so from the previous year. 

It's one of those products that can escalate quickly when you start adding personal possessions, matching set etc. Especially given the nature of having to declare everything and not being able to factor in lifestyle. ie if you had 10 handbags that cost over £1,000 each and you want to be covered outside the home then on a basic policy you'd have 10x the cost of a declared item and yet clearly its unlikely you'd ever go out with all 10 at the same time... at most you may take a few on a holiday. 

TripleH

I would look to insure for longer than I need. Say I need 2 weeks and can find reasonable short-term cover, I'd do a month to cover any delays but I'm risk adverse.

What_time_is_it

The policy we are taking out is a short-term unoccupied buildings policy. The unoccupied part of this is what costs the money! It makes it about 5 times more expensive than a standard buildings insurance policy, so we are not just talking about a few hundred pounds here!

Buildings cover is a no-brainer is terms of whether you have it or not. It can be costly, but it spares you the shame of trying to crowdfund money from your friends if anything did go wrong, just because you were too tight to pay for it yourself! Actually, don't get me started on crowdfunding to cover personal costs!!!

housebuyer143

At others have said, 14 day cooling off period, means you will have to pay for the days you used but should be able to cancel with little penalty.

What_time_is_it

housebuyer143 said:

At others have said, 14 day cooling off period, means you will have to pay for the days you used but should be able to cancel with little penalty.

£50 charge by the sounds of it. But it sounds like my best option. Unoccupied house insurance is really expensive!

DullGreyGuy

What_time_is_it said:

housebuyer143 said:

At others have said, 14 day cooling off period, means you will have to pay for the days you used but should be able to cancel with little penalty.

£50 charge by the sounds of it. But it sounds like my best option. Unoccupied house insurance is really expensive!

Escape of water does a lot of damage when a major burst pipe isn't spotted for several days.