Unable to obtain home/buildings insurance

chrissie2007

I have owned a house for the past two years - we are currently in the process of extended and renovating the property albeit slowly. We were advised by the builder that there may be storm damage to the chimney and so called my insurers to find out if they could come and have a look. I was told by the insurance company that as the house had been unoccupied for more than 30 days our insurance was invalid! We have never lived in the property, I have never said I lived there or would have signed anything to say I was - the broker who set the insurance up also knew this. Naively I have been paying the premium every month for the past two years unaware that we were not covered. However now I have been trying to get insurance and am finding difficulty in finding a company that will insure me? Surely people who renovate houses must get insured somehow! Does anyone have any advice? Thanks

Suzy_M

Permanently unoccupied houses are practically uninsureable however, you can get insurance to cover property whilst it's being renovated. It is time limited, expensive and if you complete the project before the insurance expires there's no rebates apparently.

Obviously it won't cover natural wear and tear, e.g. storm damage but should cover against accidental damage.

We are about to embark on a house renovation ourselves (our broker is getting some quotes together). Our reason for getting insurance is mainly for third party liability (think if someone has an accident and it's your fault - you could lose the property if you are sued). Broker's still looking into it but we are also hoping for some legal expenses cover - so if a builder takes out a supporting wall without supports or does something equally stupid we can sue his butt off if necessary!

jessjess_2

Suzy_M wrote: »

Permanently unoccupied houses are practically uninsureable however, you can get insurance to cover property whilst it's being renovated. It is time limited, expensive and if you complete the project before the insurance expires there's no rebates apparently.

Obviously it won't cover natural wear and tear, e.g. storm damage but should cover against accidental damage.

We are about to embark on a house renovation ourselves (our broker is getting some quotes together). Our reason for getting insurance is mainly for third party liability (think if someone has an accident and it's your fault - you could lose the property if you are sued). Broker's still looking into it but we are also hoping for some legal expenses cover - so if a builder takes out a supporting wall without supports or does something equally stupid we can sue his butt off if necessary!

How is storm damage natural wear and tear exactally?

OP - if you never said you were going to live in the property, then go to the insurer and complain you were mis sold the insurance!!

Suzy_M

jessjess wrote: »

How is storm damage natural wear and tear exactally?

"The" storm damage and the background, as described by the OP, sounded more like natural wear and tear, than wind damage. - House left unoccupied for years, probably unheated, damp gets into brickwork and sits there throughout the winter, subsequent frost damage to chimney stack and chimney stack needs repointing. Also how old is the house is and when it was repointed, if ever. - OP states house is being renovated (and slowly) and possibly the house was already in a neglected state anyway before they took it on.

The OP should defiinitely try and get the premiums back but I think even if the insurance did apply they wouldn't have paid out on the basis of the above.