House Insurance

[WantAnEasyLife]

I never had one before as i was renting.

What happens? Do they come to look at the house before you sign the agreement?

what do you mean, buildings insurance, or contents insurance, or both?

Either way no, they don't normally come to look. You usually have to make a declaration about the state of the property, whether there are any cracks of more than a certain size, whether it has any history of subsidence or flooding or is in a flood risk zone, etc etc. They will take you through the questions and the specific questions may depend on your postcode (for example my postcode is in a high risk subsidence area so they asked us extra questions about whether there were any trees in the vicinity.

Contents insurance, they ask about the value of the contents and any extras you want like legal cover etc.

In either case you need to make sure you answer absolutely truthfully because any evidence that you falsified your answers could mean they can wriggle out of paying.

HTH

Thanks for your reply.

I meant building insurance.

I was about to do it and kept putting it off (i suffer from depression).

Today i had a letter from neighbours saying that 'one tile on my roof chipped forward leaving a hole and the board under the gutter seems to be rotting'. I'm alone and skint. What i suppose to do?

Well they won't ask you whether there are any loose tiles on the roof before granting you insurance so this won't prevent you from getting insurance if that's what you're worrying about. But you couldn't get insurance and then claim for the tile (at least not without making a false statement about when it happened).

Also I'm not an expert, but I am not sure whether they would pay out for this anyway. They might pay out to reinstate the tile, but on the face of it, this sounds like a pretty simple repair, probably not worth paying out your excess for, and secondly stuff like rotten soffit boards sounds like wear and tear which isn't really covered by insurance.

But as I say, I'm not an expert on this so it might be worth posting in legal and money to find out what people think.

Are you absolutely certain the house doesn't already have buildings cover? You can't normally get a mortgage without it and if you're in a leasehold house/flat it's dealt with by the freeholder.

No, there is no insurance.

Ok if i call a builder how much would he charge (london)?

oh goodness - how long is a piece of string - I have no idea but we're getting our gutters redone (front and back) and the man is charging £300. On the face of it, this sounds like a simpler job but honestly, I don't know. Maybe worth posting a separate thread asking for advice.

Thank you theyoungvisiter.

I will check back later in case more people come.

Isurance wont pay out on wear and tear.

It seems a little unusual that your neighbour has written to you about a tile on your roof?

You could start by getting a roofer to come out and have a look at the problem (if you can get a recomendation from a friend that is a good start, if not there are some websites that carry peoples reviews of builders etc.)

I thought the letter was weird too but i suffer from depression and don't know if others are weird or me

Maybe they worry that i will get dumb and then they will get it too

You need buildings insurance if you have a mortgage - it will be a condition of your mortgage

A tile on the roof and rotten guttering is wear and tear

Get 3 people round to quote

and get it fixed