Frequently asked questions

Most home insurance policies exclude damage to your buildings and contents whilst work is ongoing. They usually at least require insurers to be advised, when they are, they may either refuse to continue cover, or will impose restrictions and will usually require an additional premium. At the very least, your client has a duty to advise their insurers of any changes to material information regarding their exposure to risk; if works are being carried out at their home, this would class as material information. Therefore, even if there was no specific requirement or exclusion in the policy, they may still find themselves not covered in the event of a claim, should they not give their insurers information about works beforehand and specifically agree with them that they will provide them with cover.

Yes, for the reasons given above. Most home insurers consider that whilst works are going on at home, the risk of a claim is increased, regardless of any joint name issues.

There are several reasons why a homeowner should not rely on a contractor's insurance to pay a claim:

• There may be conditions in the contract between the homeowner and the contractor that specifically state that the homeowner has a responsibility to insure certain aspects of the risk.
• There may be no specific cover for the homeowner's property under the contractor's policy.
• The contractor may only be covered for damage to the homeowner's property caused by the contractor's negligence - this would leave the homeowner exposed to non-negligent damage such as storm, etc and would also mean that, in the event of a negligent claim, the homeowner would have to take legal action against the contractor (and his insurers) to recover his/her loss. This can, of course, be a lengthy process.
• Whilst it is recommended that homeowners check that a contractor has adequate Public Liability insurance, it could be that there is some condition or flaw in the policy cover or that the contractor has not given his insurers adequate or correct information about his business that may mean they can avoid paying a claim.
• Lastly and most importantly, your client’s home is a valuable asset and they should ensure that it is properly protected. We suggest that the only way they can guarantee that they are covered adequately is to arrange their own policy.

We arrange insurance for the period of the contract only. It does not automatically renew. In certain circumstances we may be able to cover Existing Structures before work commences. You should give us this detail when applying for cover. The period of works will be estimated by your client’s architect/contractor when they are commissioned to do the work. After this, cover ceases and you should arrange for an extension to the policy with us if the works are continuing, or if the contract has been signed off, you should arrange for cover to revert to a standard household insurance policy.

Existing Structure

Your client’s home should be insured for its rebuild cost (and not for its market saleable value). They should also include the rebuild cost of any outbuildings, garages, walls, etc if they require them to be covered. They may be certain of what this rebuild cost is, as they may have had a survey carried out on the property if they recently purchased it. If they have not had any professional advice regarding the correct rebuild value of your property, we suggest that they arrange for some now. If the contractor or architect that you are using for the works is suitably qualified, they may be able to guide them on this issue. If not, they could seek help from a local surveyor.

If they own a Listed property it is protected by law and they should be particularly careful about assessing the correct rebuild cost. They will need to ensure that this includes like for like materials and the cost of hiring contractors able to carry out specialist techniques.

Insuring for the correct value is important, as insurance policies like ours, covering domestic properties, generally contain a clause which reduces the value of any full or partial claim settlement should the insured amount be less than the correct rebuild cost.

Contract Works

Your client will usually be given a price from the architect or builder carrying out the works and this will be the Contract Value. The Contract Value is what they should cover under the Permanent and Temporary Works part of the policy. This should include irrecoverable VAT if applicable.

If there are any items that will be salvaged from the building and used in the works, the value of such items should be noted separately under the Permanent and Temporary Works sum insured.

Should my client protect their own exposure for liability to the public?As with the increased risk of damage to your client’s property, the risk of injury or damage to other people or their property increases whilst works are ongoing.

The policy cover available with our product gives you the benefit of their own liability cover as property owner and includes cover whilst there are works at the home.