Renovation. It’s a word that for some can bring intense excitement, a chance to make your house a home, exactly the way you want it. Before you get started, your number one task on your renovation to-do list should be to check your home insurance covers you for property renovations.
Have you informed your insurer?
You’ve been staring at the same walls for a while, and now it’s time for change. Perhaps you own your home but now you’ve run out of space and need to extend, or you’re a property investor, looking to renovate a buy-to-let property; either way you need to ensure you have the correct insurance.
34% of the millennial homeowners surveyed informed their insurer before work started on their renovation compared to only 10% of the over 55s.
Don’t start unless you’ve done the prerequisite checks
Before you get too far ahead and the building work commences, there are a few things that you need to consider first:
- Does your home insurance provider know about the changes you’re making to your property?
Insurance providers aren’t ‘out to get you’ and don’t aim to charge you more than you need. They are there to protect you at the time when you are at your most vulnerable and when you need it most. If you’re going to be making changes to your property then it’s vital you include communicating with your insurance to your plans.
65% of renovators did not tell their current insurer that they were starting a major renovation, which could threaten their cover should the project lead to needing to make a claim.
- Are you covered if something goes wrong during a property renovation?
While you’re working hard in your practice, the builders, contractors and architects are making changes to your property. But suddenly, you get a call to say that some materials have been stolen, or a storm has caused irreplaceable damage to your property. You’d need to give your insurer a call to make sure it’s something they would cover for you.
Insurance claims data highlights that over the past three years, theft of materials is the most claimed-for reason by those undertaking major renovations.
- Is your new, upgraded house covered by your insurance?
Once the renovation is complete you need to make sure you still have the correct insurance in place. All of the below could affect your current insurance, so speak to your financial adviser if you’ve:
- increased the footprint of your home by extending or adding rooms
- replaced old materials with more expensive ones
- bought more contents to fill the empty space.
Your next step to ensure you’re fully covered
Firstly, give All Med Pro a call. We can tell you just what cover home insurance through us will provide throughout your renovations, make sure it is robust enough to cover all your needs, and let you know whether you need to take out extra insurance, essential to have in place before the big build starts.