Advise on home insurance while house under renovation and vacant
- Thread starter Jonny Vee
- Start date
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£1500 for a year as they only do 12months and they have suggested towergate as option for short terms insurance
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- 21 Jul 2017
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Hi again had a look at the policy its actually with SAGIC (https://www.sagic.co.uk/) which is part of the salvation army you may be able to go direct for a quote and avoid a broker fee
Thanks. i will have a go and let you know
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OK the property will not be being used as a "residence"
BUT?? because of the renovations, you will be present in the property every day, depending on the Insurer, that simply cannot be deemed "un-Occupied"
I assume that the property is presently covered by insurance?, Some Insurers demand to know if the property is undergoing a [so called] major make over or "major" renovations, this because the premium set on the property is set by several factors, one being the number of Bedrooms, the Insurer will want to know what form the renovations are taking, just in case you are adding 5 Bedrooms, a Cinema, a kitchen with a value of " £98,000 "
All above is aimed at ensuring the Insurer is not exposed to your property value rising above the declared value you stated when you took out the Policy.
BUT?? because of the renovations, you will be present in the property every day, depending on the Insurer, that simply cannot be deemed "un-Occupied"
I assume that the property is presently covered by insurance?, Some Insurers demand to know if the property is undergoing a [so called] major make over or "major" renovations, this because the premium set on the property is set by several factors, one being the number of Bedrooms, the Insurer will want to know what form the renovations are taking, just in case you are adding 5 Bedrooms, a Cinema, a kitchen with a value of " £98,000 "
All above is aimed at ensuring the Insurer is not exposed to your property value rising above the declared value you stated when you took out the Policy.
The word unoccupied is very difficult to understand on this occasion because I will be at the property every day and for many hours. My residence will not be there and will not sleep there but will be working night and day at the property. Is this still an unoccupied property?
Nobody seems to clarify the main point which is making the all thing very difficult.
Unoccupancy in general Insurance terms is designed to protect the Insurer from claims for burst pipes in winter, vandal damage / break ins at any time, Etc. Etc. whilst you are on Holiday, in Barbados for over 30 days.
What the Insurer is concerned about is, what the Insurer perceives as, an Insurance risk [Meaning] the insurer may??? have to fork out money to repair damage which if you had been present during the 30 days would have been reduced.
Now, what regularly happens is that the Insured [you] organise a family member / friend / trusted neighbour to have access to the property on a regular basis, say every 2 / 5 Days during your absence from the property, Holiday, Work. or even, the one that really gets to any insurer, someone simply walks away from the property, un-able to pay the M/Gage, but??? the Policy is still in place??
Most insurers will [IN THE SMALL PRINT] ask that you inform the Insurer that there is a major make -over on-going.
Now? because you are [actually] present at the property, OK you are not actually in residence, should mean that the Un-Occupancy clause does not kick in.
OK you are not there at night?? so what, what would the Insurer tell someone who was on constant night shift??
Bottom line, simple? if you were to leave your home and go on Holiday for 30+ days and not return to the house than that would be a trigger for the 30 Days Un-Occupancy. BUT!!! because you are actually physically going to be present in your home every day, during the renovation then any insurance 30 Day rule simply cannot by applied???
Ken
What the Insurer is concerned about is, what the Insurer perceives as, an Insurance risk [Meaning] the insurer may??? have to fork out money to repair damage which if you had been present during the 30 days would have been reduced.
Now, what regularly happens is that the Insured [you] organise a family member / friend / trusted neighbour to have access to the property on a regular basis, say every 2 / 5 Days during your absence from the property, Holiday, Work. or even, the one that really gets to any insurer, someone simply walks away from the property, un-able to pay the M/Gage, but??? the Policy is still in place??
Most insurers will [IN THE SMALL PRINT] ask that you inform the Insurer that there is a major make -over on-going.
Now? because you are [actually] present at the property, OK you are not actually in residence, should mean that the Un-Occupancy clause does not kick in.
OK you are not there at night?? so what, what would the Insurer tell someone who was on constant night shift??
Bottom line, simple? if you were to leave your home and go on Holiday for 30+ days and not return to the house than that would be a trigger for the 30 Days Un-Occupancy. BUT!!! because you are actually physically going to be present in your home every day, during the renovation then any insurance 30 Day rule simply cannot by applied???
Ken
Would make sense to me. So what about all these insurance around offering un-occupancy/renovation? It's just business or for people who are actually not doing any work at the property or are not visiting it often.
I just want to make sure I don't find myself on the wrong side.
An insurer said if you don't slip there the house is an-occupied. As per other members above what about all the house where people does a night shift or work all day and just slip. The insurer will say that they do not have lunch at home? nIt's tricky and nobody knows to have a proper answer like and it's like a grey area to be exploited by the insurer.
I looked into this extensively when I was renovating my last property.
What I found was most insurers class it as unoccupied unless you're sleeping there overnight.
Halifax did agree to cover it for, if I remember rightly, 6 months, on a standard policy however they wouldn't provide contents cover of any description, so all my tools were left there uninsured, and they also didn't provide cover for things like water damage on the assumption the house wouldn't be properly heated etc. So all in the cover wasn't really all that great anyway.
I overran the 6 months and Halifax refused outright to allow me to extend my policy and cancelled it there and then whilst I was on the phone, leaving me with no insurance at all with no notice. At that point I ended up just biting the bullet and paying out for a proper unoccupied policy through a dedicated insurer.
The prices that have been quoted elsewhere on this thread do sound fairly typical, I can't remember exactly what I paid for mine but it was of the order of 5x the cost of normal buildings and contents cover.
What I found was most insurers class it as unoccupied unless you're sleeping there overnight.
Halifax did agree to cover it for, if I remember rightly, 6 months, on a standard policy however they wouldn't provide contents cover of any description, so all my tools were left there uninsured, and they also didn't provide cover for things like water damage on the assumption the house wouldn't be properly heated etc. So all in the cover wasn't really all that great anyway.
I overran the 6 months and Halifax refused outright to allow me to extend my policy and cancelled it there and then whilst I was on the phone, leaving me with no insurance at all with no notice. At that point I ended up just biting the bullet and paying out for a proper unoccupied policy through a dedicated insurer.
The prices that have been quoted elsewhere on this thread do sound fairly typical, I can't remember exactly what I paid for mine but it was of the order of 5x the cost of normal buildings and contents cover.
If the difference in price between occupied and unoccupied is many hundreds of pounds why not just sleep there once a month. You can work late and you are already onsite in the morning so it might even work out better for you. I'm sure you can find a corner for a camp bed. You could even pitch a tent.
I can keep a room without making any work and sleep there. Do they would accept? People experience say no. I'm confused
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