Any house insurance whizzes around? FLAT ROOFS!!

RainbowsInTheSpray

Hi guys.

Thinking of making an offer on a property which has a newly-built extension with what appears to be a solid and sturdy flat roof. I gather these are possibly better constructed these days than was once the case... but, even so...

Is there any way of purchasing some kind of indemnity or ongoing insurance against failure of such a roof? Obviously, I would be asking the seller to foot the bill.

For me. it would have to be either that or simply building this risk into a lower offer...

user1977

Why do you think it needs special insurance? They (generally) need more maintenance than pitched roofs*, but you could say the same thing about plenty of other components of a building. You don't get insurance against maintenance costs anyway, it's inevitable and you just budget for it as part of the joys of property ownership.

(* though in my life it's the conventional roofs which have been more problematic than the flat ones...)

RainbowsInTheSpray

I'm not talking about general maintenance of the roof. I'm talking about sudden and catastrophic failure leading to the necessity of wholesale replacement thereof - not some bitty, minor repair situation - not to mention consequent damage to ceilings, furniture and possessions below.

Flat roofs used to be notorious for such occurrences and I personally have brushed up against one in my own personal experience and at least one more I can remember in the case of a neighbour.

user1977

Sudden failure caused by what? If it's a "normal" insured risk (storm etc) then you'd be covered by standard buildings insurance, if it's just fundamentally defective or lacked maintenance then you're not going to find insurance (not sure whether it helps though for consequential water damage etc).

singhini

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Hi guys.

Thinking of making an offer on a property which has a newly-built extension with what appears to be a solid and sturdy flat roof. I gather these are possibly better constructed these days than was once the case... but, even so...

Is there any way of purchasing some kind of indemnity or ongoing insurance against failure of such a roof? Obviously, I would be asking the seller to foot the bill.

For me. it would have to be either that or simply building this risk into a lower offer...

Do you know when the roof was built i.e. exactly how old is it? Also was planning permission needed and if so was it granted and were any certificates issued by planning / building control signing off / passing the works?  -----> if so then i cant see why indemnity insurance is needed. 

 If i was the seller, i would say i am happy for you "the buyer" to get someone to inspect the entire roof if you have concerns. But i'm not paying for that. 

If you still wanted to go down the route of indemnity, i would ask you what risks do you want the indemnity insurance to actually cover. And when your clear about that, i would suggest you contact your solicitor to find a policy you are happy with and you should purchase that policy yourself. 

RainbowsInTheSpray

It's a very, very recent build... just finishing off, in fact. It's one where, owing to the position of existing roofs, there has been little option BUT to use a flat one on this extension.

Yes, I think the only thing I can do really is to try to angle the asking price down to cover at least some of the increased insurance premiums I'd have to be paying over the coming years.

user1977

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

It's a very, very recent build... just finishing off, in fact.

In which case surely the sensible precaution is to satisfy yourself on the design and standard of construction.

Not sure insurance premiums are that badly affected, I'm in an almost wholly flat-roofed building and the premiums are reasonable.

Aretnap

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Yes, I think the only thing I can do really is to try to angle the asking price down to cover at least some of the increased insurance premiums I'd have to be paying over the coming years.

What increased insurance openings do you think you'll be paying? 

If you're taking about normal home insurance, in my experience having a flat roofed extension has never affected the premium much, especially if it's a relatively small percentage of the total roof area.

If you're talking about a separate insurance policy which will cover you if the roof fails due to poor design, wear and tear etc, then I didn't think we've established that such a policy even exists.

singhini

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

It's a very, very recent build... just finishing off, in fact. It's one where, owing to the position of existing roofs, there has been little option BUT to use a flat one on this extension.

Yes, I think the only thing I can do really is to try to angle the asking price down to cover at least some of the increased insurance premiums I'd have to be paying over the coming years.

If the roof is brand new (and from what you have written it sounds like it is) i would enquire if the work is guaranteed and for how long (the seller should be able to produce paperwork to back any guarantee / warrantee up). Also if there are any special features or materials used like Skylights i would also ask if these have a manufactures warranty and again ask to see paperwork.

In both cases (Workmanship warranty and manufacturers warranty just check they are transferable to you as the new owner). There might not be any warranties or bundles of paperwork but if the build is new, now is the time to ask for such things.

With regards to price, i would drive the price down anyway i.e. i would always knock a few grand off the asking price on any property (that's just my thing. i'm tight with money). 

If i was you (i hate saying that phrase), but i would focus more on making sure the extension has been built correctly and has officially been signed off by planning / building control (the extension might not have needed planning permission per-se but it will still need to be built correctly to building regulations and i think still needs building control to come out and inspect it stage by stage and be signed off with a certificate issued. 
This would be more important to me than the roof being a flat roof. 


PS - where i have used the words Guarantee and Warranty i have used them interchangeably (i don't know if there is a technical difference).   

RainbowsInTheSpray

singhini said:

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

It's a very, very recent build... just finishing off, in fact. It's one where, owing to the position of existing roofs, there has been little option BUT to use a flat one on this extension.

Yes, I think the only thing I can do really is to try to angle the asking price down to cover at least some of the increased insurance premiums I'd have to be paying over the coming years.

If i was you (i hate saying that phrase), but i would focus more on making sure the extension has been built correctly and has officially been signed off by planning / building control (the extension might not have needed planning permission per-se but it will still need to be built correctly to building regulations and i think still needs building control to come out and inspect it stage by stage and be signed off with a certificate issued. 
This would be more important to me than the roof being a flat roof. 


PS - where i have used the words Guarantee and Warranty i have used them interchangeably (i don't know if there is a technical difference).   

Maybe because the correct phrase is the subjunctive 'if I were you? Sorry - the teacher in me coming out! Whatever, very sound advice and many thanks for that. I had totally forgotten the building controls aspect. 

MyRealNameToo

Standard home insurance will cover you for the standard perils of fire, storm, impact for both your pitched and flat roof. 

Assuming competent builders constructed it then it won't simply fail. Overtime parts will wear and if you dont do routine maintenance that can result in water ingress, timbers rotting and potentially relatively minor issue causing part of the roof to collapse. This however is ultimately a maintenance issue and not something insurers cover. In theory you could get a service plan which takes on the maintenance for you but I'm not aware of anyone offering such a thing.