Hi – I don’t have all the details, but here we go. OH getting an extension built – basically a straight projection off the back of the house which will make it about 50% bigger. Not too complicated really. Buildings insurance have said current insurance invalid and she has to take out a new policy for £1500 for the period of the work (about six months). This seems a lot to me (her buildings+contents is usually about £500), especially as at least some of the risks will be covered by the builder’s insurance.

So, what did or would Singletrack do?

We didn’t even consider our insurance position during our recent extension, maybe that was a major oversight on our part, but sounds like it saved us some money…

Been there, done that. We moved out a couple of years ago for 6 months during a big extension and went through the same process. Building insurance seemed hugely expensive for a small number of risks because, as you say, the biggest risk is something caused by builders so covered under their insurance. We moved out so the contents side was easier, we didn’t leave much behind. So we opted to not insure. I wasn’t happy about it but I just couldn’t justify the cost v risk.

In the back of my mind I figured if something terrible happened to the building I would find a way of linking it to builders and claiming against them. Not ethical, probably not realistic but in my mind it was enough to help me sleep!

edit: do make sure you get a hard copy of builders insurance and phone up insurers to check it valid. Don’t just take builders word for it.

Home insurance while under construction isn’t cheap and a fair amount simply won’t cover/restrict to FLEA.

Can’t comment on the £1,500 as i don’t know what it covers/cost off works/value of the existing structure.

As with most things, shop around.

Worth trying the following;

https://www.selfbuildinsure.co.uk/

https://www.renovationplan.co.uk/get-a-quote/

Key question is, who actually owns the property – OH or OH and her mortgage company.

If the former, how much is she risking to save the increase, if the latter she may not have a choice*

* – obviously I’m ignoring the ability to not do it and not get ‘caught’.

We had some work done last year – walls out, 2 RSJ’s, small extension and alteration to roof, new kitchen etc and it was £20 admin fee to alert the insurer and no extra premium….they just said that obviously any damage that could be attributed to the building work wouldn’t be covered.

If mortgaged the lender will require you to inform your insurer that you are having construction works done. The builders insurance is not sufficient. It may be sufficient if you own your house outright and are happy with any limitations on the builders policy but they won’t cover for example contents.

Shop around. I can’t remember which comparison site lets you account for this, but I do remember sainsbury’s came out cheapest for us. Way cheaper than just paying extra on existing insurance. Then move back after.

Same as @turboferret. Oops.. Cue me dropping everything to ring insurers and get the policy updated just now. Thanks for the nudge OP! And yes £1,500 sounds like a lot but what do I know, given I didn’t even think to do it 🤦‍♂️

Never considered our insurance when we had an extension…

Re: relying on builder’s insurance, that only works if they bother to pay out!

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/mar/13/family-bill-insurer-claim-house-loft-renovation

I wouldnt want to rely on the builders insurance, I’d want my own in place, and I think most standard building insurance has clauses that state you must tell them if you are having building work done.

You are much more likely to have a problem during building work – typically fire risk increases I think.

In laws cancelled insurance during building work

The house very nearly burnt to the ground. Only saved by some one coming home mid day when they were usually out all day. The house was full of smoke

When we had major building work that involved substantial internal alterations with seven sets of steels etc. our home insurance company refused to insure us for the period of the work. We had a specialist insurer cover us which was roughly double the old premium (£800 + iirc in 2017) with far more restrictions on the policy, including not insuring against theft by any visitors to the site during the working day for example, but we had to suck it up. I too would not rely on the builders cover.

Is this not the exact thing insurance is for? Covering low risk high consequences situations?

While £1500 may be high presumably experience shows that major building work causes a number of big claims.

IIRC NFU just asked me a few questions, I think I filled in a form, then let me crack on. Looks like I got lucky with my insurer.

You could try a specialist, such as Protec.

https://www.protekselfbuild.co.uk they cover extensions/renovations as well as self builds.

Hmmm. Seems a bit strange. I’d expect the current buildings insurer to, basically, note that work was going on and then not cover the works.

The builder carrying out the works needs to have something called contract works cover. This isn’t “usual” tradesmans cover (which is tools, public liability, etc) but is designed to cover damage to the thing they’re working on, i.e., the extension.

The builder’s public liability cover should also provide cover if they accidentally damage the main house.

It’s usually a condition of your household policy to let the insurer know if you have any works going on, specifically so they can tell you that they aren’t covering the works! But to say the policy isn’t valid is odd. And to ask for £1500 for a new policy makes it sound like they’ve been asked to cover the works.

More questions need to be asked OP!

Doesn’t seem odd to me. Outside of the actual building work there can be more risk of other events. Fire, burglary, etc.

We were very careful to maintain proper external doors and windows. Basically kept the old ones in place until the shell was built then knocked through. Made it a better place to live and the insurance company was happy with that.

small extension – 50% bigger- hahaha! so a really small extension then?

you can kind understand that insurance will go up. you have every twonk and his jobbing mate in the house while they knock seven shades of crap out of the building, cover everything in dust and steal your silver teaspoons.

i totally forgot about insurance when we had work done. it was only after we realised we werent covered for anything during the period.