Renovation insurance – don’t trust contractor insurance

IF you rely on your contractor’s insurance when renovating your home then you could be in for a nasty shock. Contractor’s insurance may not cover your property, the works they are doing or even be in force when you are having the work done. That’s not scaremongering, they are facts observed by The Home Insurer when looking to provide Renovation Insurance.

Contractors with no liability insurance in place

Sounds ridiculous right? We had one contractor buy public liability insurance from us and then cancel the next day saying they had shown it to the customer, got the contract and didn’t need it anymore. Pity that poor householder if anything went wrong, which, given the shoddy cheapskate approach of the contractor, it probably would.

Even if they show you a certificate of insurance it doesn’t mean it is in force when your works commence. Is it worth the risk when you can get full Renovation Insurance with Works yourself? Probably not if you ask us.

Renovation with works insurance

This is renovation insurance that covers your property and the works taking place on it. It means you don’t depend on the contractor’s insurance, you take it out of their hands and protect your own property.

Yes, it’s a bit more expensive but not normally prohibitively so compared to the cost of the property and works. Especially when you consider the benefit if anything goes wrong and you need to make a claim. With works insurance is designed for a specific purpose and it is normally very good at it.

Contractor insurance that doesn’t cover the works on your property

So you’ve seen a schedule and it says £5million liability cover. The dates are right and it is in force. Great! But have you read the endorsements?

Endorsements adjust the policy accordingly. A director at The Home Insurer had a house extension and his contractor had all the right insurances in place; until he read the endorsements – underpinning was excluded. There was underpinning at the extension. He bought his own with works renovation insurance and slept quite well during the works.

What you can do to protect your home during extensions and refurbishments

This is simple, don’t go to big name price comparison sites that rely on fast internet driven answers to questions and fight for the cheapest price. Go to a specialist house insurance provider that knows the difference between renovation insurance and works insurance. To be fair, many of the big name insurers will tell you they cannot insure renovations anyway.

The Home Insurer can provide the renovation insurance, extension insurance, building works insurance you need. It can cover the building when occupied or unoccupied. We can cover the works if you like. It can even offer non negligence insurance – a whole new level of protection if you are renovating.

At this point you can link to The Home Insurer and fill in a form. We will call you back to discuss your needs. Or better than that, if during office hours, call us on 01832-735388 and tell us what you need. We will be able to tell you if we can insure it and deliver a quote, normally within hours.