House insurance - why bother?
Discussion
After high winds and pooring rain our conservatory sprang a leak because some glass roof panels shifted.
It was inspected and they concluded it was not built well and is dangerous, the roof has to come off and could cost about £10k to fix.
You have to walk through the conservatory to access other rooms in the house and it is a fairly major part of the overall structure of the house.
Its approx 7yrs old and not under warranty but did pass building regs etc.
Am I misguided in thinking that house insurance is for this very type of unforseen issue?
Presumably if the house roof collapses that is something that the insurance company can claim "must have been built badly" too?
Incidentally, I've never claimed on a house ins policy before (over 20 yrs), so I do not fully appreciate whether this type of thing should be covered.
I'm quite used to car warranties where they usually claim defective design or waer & tear
All type of insurance the same perhaps?
It was inspected and they concluded it was not built well and is dangerous, the roof has to come off and could cost about £10k to fix.
You have to walk through the conservatory to access other rooms in the house and it is a fairly major part of the overall structure of the house.
Its approx 7yrs old and not under warranty but did pass building regs etc.
Am I misguided in thinking that house insurance is for this very type of unforseen issue?
Presumably if the house roof collapses that is something that the insurance company can claim "must have been built badly" too?
Incidentally, I've never claimed on a house ins policy before (over 20 yrs), so I do not fully appreciate whether this type of thing should be covered.
I'm quite used to car warranties where they usually claim defective design or waer & tear
All type of insurance the same perhaps?
turbobloke said:
Unless you're mortgage free won't your co-owner bank or b-s insist on cover?
Hey, good point - thanks for that!We'll get the lender involved if need be.
Still waiting for a definite "no" but the assessor chap said it is likely they won't cover it.
Even if we decided to knock it down it will de-value the house and cost a few grand to remove and make good the walls back to external brick and remove the oak floor and the brick fireplace and log burner etc which wouldn't really suit our garden if left as it is
Household policies cover you for "specified perils". ie only for those events that are actually listed in the policy document (storm, fire, flood, etc). Policies do not generally cover wear and tear and that do not normally cover defective workmanship. It all depends on the proximate cause of the loss. If its storm it will be covered it its just badly built then probably not. Yuo could try the "if it was defective workmanship how come its lasted 7 years" approach and see where that gets you.
[quote=Kentish]Any come back on the buiding inspector woith this?
It depends on what grounds insurers are saying it is defective workmanship. Remember that the onus is on insurers to prove that the claim is not covered and if there is reasonable doubt insurers should find in your favour. TBH storm damage is often very difficult to prove one way or another. I'm afraid that all too often insurers will decline a claim which can be said to fall in a "grey" area. If they do say no don't give up. If necessary get a local tradesman to give you his opinion and ask insurers to reconsider
It depends on what grounds insurers are saying it is defective workmanship. Remember that the onus is on insurers to prove that the claim is not covered and if there is reasonable doubt insurers should find in your favour. TBH storm damage is often very difficult to prove one way or another. I'm afraid that all too often insurers will decline a claim which can be said to fall in a "grey" area. If they do say no don't give up. If necessary get a local tradesman to give you his opinion and ask insurers to reconsider
so seeing as you're saying that the conservatory is part of the house and that it's effectively a corridor... and that it's 7 years old.. does that mean the house is 7 years old 9it sound slike it was designed that way).. and if so.. does that mean it's covered by the NHBC guarantee (fnarr fnarr)
f
k all to do with a building inspector or building regs (both totally different depts).I've repaired loads of other firms conservatorys through bad workmanship, it can be spotted a mile off.An Ins Co will see that and i can see why they wont pay up.Also,how big is it? 10k sounds heck of a lot from the impression your giving.
k all to do with a building inspector or building regs (both totally different depts).I've repaired loads of other firms conservatorys through bad workmanship, it can be spotted a mile off.An Ins Co will see that and i can see why they wont pay up.Also,how big is it? 10k sounds heck of a lot from the impression your giving. V12Les said:
.An Ins Co will see that and i can see why they wont pay up.
IF this is bad workmanship then they won't pay because it will not fall into one of the specified perils (see earlier post).Look in your policy and you will see storm, fire, flood, impact but you won't see a section that says "we will also pay for dodgy work/Friday afternoon/Bob the Builder bodge-ups".
Its just part of owning a house
briSk said:
so seeing as you're saying that the conservatory is part of the house and that it's effectively a corridor... and that it's 7 years old.. does that mean the house is 7 years old 9it sound slike it was designed that way).. and if so.. does that mean it's covered by the NHBC guarantee (fnarr fnarr)
In my experience, the NHBC guarantee is worth st.We moved into our house when it was 8 years old. The next winter there was a storm one day and a section of tiles moved and several came off and smashed. We claimed on our normal house insurance (£50 excess) but the guy who repaired the damage told us there were insufficient fixings for the tiles; it should never have passed the building inspection. So we contacted the NHBC, it being within the 10 years of their 'guarantee'. They told us 'No chance. We should have checked and complained when the house was new' !!!
Perhaps we should have waited to see whether it falls in oneday and if it did there would be not much left to inspect.
It is constructed from good quality materials (all glass roof etc) but apparently no clips have been used or not enough to hold the glass panels in place adequately.
I guess we could be better off getting quotes to have an entire new one built. Could be cheaper!
Regarding the wear and tear caveat mentioned above, I was not aware a conservatory was subject to wear and tear like a set of brake pads or clutch would be on a car, I'm not aware that conservatories have any sort of routine maintenance schedule that owners should adhere to?
It is constructed from good quality materials (all glass roof etc) but apparently no clips have been used or not enough to hold the glass panels in place adequately.
I guess we could be better off getting quotes to have an entire new one built. Could be cheaper!
Regarding the wear and tear caveat mentioned above, I was not aware a conservatory was subject to wear and tear like a set of brake pads or clutch would be on a car, I'm not aware that conservatories have any sort of routine maintenance schedule that owners should adhere to?
Kentish said:
After high winds and pooring rain our conservatory sprang a leak because some glass roof panels shifted.
It was inspected and they concluded it was not built well and is dangerous, the roof has to come off and could cost about £10k to fix.
You have to walk through the conservatory to access other rooms in the house and it is a fairly major part of the overall structure of the house.
Its approx 7yrs old and not under warranty but did pass building regs etc.
it may not be under warranty but if it hasn't been built correctly it's known as a latent defect - if you comissioned it you are entitled to approach the contractor to effect repairs at their costIt was inspected and they concluded it was not built well and is dangerous, the roof has to come off and could cost about £10k to fix.
You have to walk through the conservatory to access other rooms in the house and it is a fairly major part of the overall structure of the house.
Its approx 7yrs old and not under warranty but did pass building regs etc.
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