Hi there,
I am broker at a Twickenham based insurance brokerage (Insurance Tailors), and one of the things we specialise in is large scale renovations/project works insurance. I've noticed that a number of Nappy Valley users are undertaking significant building works and perhaps digging basements and I would like to give some advice on the subject of insurance.
As most people are aware, basement dig-outs and large scale renovations in London are a commonplace these days but most are insured completely incorrectly and can lead to devastating ends…
A huge number of home owners are either under or total uninsured during their works. It is because they think that their household insurance will cover the existing structure and then the builder will be insured for anything else that might go wrong.
There are two significant problems here, firstly, if the works are of any significant scale (i.e. structural and over £100,000) then all household insurers will either come off cover straight away or limit cover drastically, leaving the property exposed and the home owner in breach of mortgage terms. If you simply do not tell them then you probably will be uninsured and the policy made void, which can lead to more serious implications.
By relying on the builder insuring the works, you are presuming that they have the right cover, with the appropriate insurer, have made the correct declarations about the work they do, number of employees and payments to them and are paying their premiums. Also by relying on their contract policy any claims money will go straight to them, unless you jointly named insured on their policy and I am sure if they have burnt down your house, I am not sure you will want those builders returning to fix the problem!
The correct way of insuring the property during insurance is to take out a renovations/project works insurance that will cover the existing structure and contract works on a comprehensive basis on a single policy in your name and control for the length of the works. The contractor would still need his own liability insurance and worth checking a copy of this but this way it is not only the most comprehensive way of covering the works, it is usually the only way.
If there are any party walls involved as part of the project, then Non Negligence party wall insurance is usually also a must, especially if you are doing a basement digout. This insurance will protect the homeowner in the event of third party property damage and no one has been found to be at fault (i.e. not the fault of the architect/contractor etc). This cover is taken out for duration of work and 12 month maintenance period after.
Hope this helps some NV renovators out there… Appreciate insurance can be a fairly mundane topic so will stop there.
For more info please feel free to get in touch:
jrobinson@insurancetailors.com
02071993254
(P.s I live in Earlsfield so more than happy to meet for coffee in the SW area if you have any queries)
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