Electrics and house insurance

[ubhouser]

Hi,

We've recently moved into a house and bottom line is it needs a full rewire to meet modern standards, much of the house (but not all), is original wiring from 60s-70s.

It's unfortunetly going to be 2-3 years before we can afford to do this work, not to mention all the mess and redecorating it will create :(

Now I have no immediate safety concerns, sockets all have earth wires, lights do not, and all sockets are on one circuit with RCD. Wire insulation seems ok, but some of the house is the very old rubber kind which isn't great.

But I want to check, does having old wiring cause any issues with house insurance? e.g. say there was a fire, is the house value still covered? With electrical standards changing every year, I guess most people are never actually up to standards, but there's quite a difference between 1960s and 1990s right? Is there any concerns for insurance with this kind of thing?

old rubber insulated cable needs replacing. It is probably 50 years old or more, and perished. When disturbed the rubber can crack and fall off leaving bare conductors.

Absence of earthwire on lighting circuits is a nuisance, but not considered dangerous unless youy have metal light switches or lamp fittings. You must have plastic ones.

1970's PVC insulated cable is safe.

If you are very lucky you might have some from about 1971 where the copper reacts with the plasticiser and dribbles green goo. Your electrician will be very excited if he finds it and will tell all his friends and take photos. It is not dangerous but needs cleaning off and can cause switches to jam.