Home insurance for future extension

[123NorthWest]

Hi All,

About to renew our home insurance but we may look to do an extension later in the year.
Ideally don’t then want to have to swap insurers.

Please can I ask what home insurers people have used that have then let them carry out renovations/building work?

Also does anyone know of any policies where you don’t have to update the insurer when doing work as that would make life a lot simpler.

thank you

We just informed our insurers each time - no issues at all. Literally just a phone call and answer a few questions. It might depend on what you’re having done and whether you plan to move out - we had a single storey extension done and a loft conversion (separately) and lived in each time. We never had to pay any extra. I’d have to check who we’re with but it’s not anybody specialist.

You might need to tell them about how it’s constructed but you normally just say the house is now bigger and pay more. It doesn’t become uninsurable and they don’t withhold permission. They don’t own it.

Erm, I think you'll find that every insurance company requires you to let them know if you're having any building work done!!

Gallagher's insurance.
Covers lots of non standard risks including properties that are having building work done.
0345 000 1550

Some insurance companies (quite a few) don't offer cover on properties that are having building work done on. So it would be uninsurable with some companies. Because you should always let them know that you're doing building work.

If you're saying just don't tell them, then I guess you've got to decide if it want to take that risk and if they found out they might decline any claim or void the whole policy.

We made absolutely sure we had top notch insurance from Nationwide. Never been so grateful. After finding a small damp patch on an internal wall and making the decision to ring them despite thinking it might cost less to fix than our excess, we found out it was an under floor leak that affected 5 downstairs rooms including our kitchen. Our insurance paid out £50k to get it all fixed even housing us somewhere for the 4 months it took and paid £400 per month for our cats to go to a cattery. Never ever scrimp on your insurance.

They paid for your cats to go in a cattery?!

That’s brilliant - if you remember who please let me know!

You'll need to update your insurer with the insurance policy details of your builder/main contractor when you start work. So I don't think you can get around having to ring/email them later in the year.

If you have a JCT Contract with your builders (and if it's a decent sized extension you probably should) then that'll specify the insurance. Some insurers won't cover anything over a certain contract value. The gold standard is Hiscox (don't even need to tell them unless it's a £250k+ project) but they're expensive. It may be worth talking to an insurance broker.

As a word of warning I did a high value renovation a few years ago and when I phoned up to tell me insurer at the time (Admiral) what the start date was they said "Oh, we can't cover projects up to that value. We'll have to cancel your insurance from that date" and left me scrambling to find alternatives. Personally I'd go to a broker and get a quote in hand, and THEN tell my insurers and see what they say.