After planning and building regulations, we can understand why a lot of homeowners feel overwhelmed with the admin, perhaps a little less than enthused when it comes to reviewing their contract with potential builders.
However, as dry as contractor contracts might be, there’s one area every homeowner should pay attention to - insurance.
Whether this is the insurance your contractor should be covered by or the insurance you should be taking out yourself, nothing is more important for the safety of you you and your home and thankfully now this is something that we can help with.
To make sure you’re fully covered, here’s our guide to everything insurance…
A COVID-19 Update
Like many industries, insurance companies have had to implement changes to their practices to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most providers are no longer offering unemployment protection, until the foreseeable future. We have also encountered some providers who have also withdrawn protection against illness.
However, if you have already got these policies in place, don’t panic. You will still be covered, should the worst happen. If you do need to make a claim, bear in mind that most protection advisors are very busy at the moment. Therefore, you may have to wait a while until those policies can step in.
Concerned about your home? Whether you already have insurance in place or want to take new policies out, our Finance team are always on hand to provide free advice to homeowners. Simply book in a call and we’ll do everything we can to help you during these uncertain times.
Your insurance
Home insurance
Did you know, during construction, you won’t be adequately covered by your regular home insurance, especially if you are not going to be in the property during the build?
There are some great policies out there and most standard home insurers will sometimes look to cover small amounts of work, but will normally limit cover to “FLEE” only (Fire, Lightning, Explosion and Earthquake). This leaves a rather large gaps in your protection.
To make sure your home is safe, firstly we recommend you review your current policy (statistically people do not do this) and then let us walk you through some of the items you need to think about.
Structural warranty
Very few homeowners know about this warranty and fewer still take it out, but it’s a great way to protect your investment!
This warranty will protect your project for 10 years from ‘latent defects’ to the structure of the building. This means, should something have gone wrong during construction which isn’t spotted right away, your investment is safe from costly repairs.
Some contractors will give you a “one year warranty” on the works but don’t leave anything to chance. Take it out yourself.
Life insurance
Okay, this is a little morbid but definitely worth considering.
If you’re taking out finance on your project, you’ll also want to either update your life insurance plan or take one out. Paying off home improvement loans can take years and you don’t want your surviving family facing the debt alone, should the worst happen.
