Insurance cover for properties of Non Standard
Construction
If your home or property is of non standard construction, then
this specialist insurance policy may well be for you. Our non
standard construction insurance policy insures your home or
property in the following circumstances:
- Timber framed properties
- Steel framed properties
- Eco homes
- Essex, cob, wattle and daub (made from a combination of wet
soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw)
- Non combustible pre fabricated
- Properties in conservation areas
- Stramit
- Flat roofs - various types of construction
- Properties with shingle roofs
Key features of our non standard construction insurance
- We insure properties of non standard constructions - unlike
mainstream insurance providers
- If your property is listed or very old, we have a policy to
suit you
- We will provide alternative accommodation should your home
become inhabitable
- Home assistance cover and legal protection is provided up to
£50,000
- Accidental damage to fixed glass, sanitary fixtures and
fittings and electrical equipment
- Tracing and accessing leaks up to £5,000
Exclusions of our non standard construction insurance
- If unoccupied after 60 days no cover for malicious damage,
theft or escape of water
- Storm damage to fences, gates or hedges
- Damage caused by wear and tear and depreciation
- Malicious damage caused by person lawfully in the home
- Loss or damage occurring while home is let or sublet, unless
involuntary forcible and violent entry to or exit from the
home
- The first £250 for escape of water claims, £1,000 for
subsidence/heave/landslip claims and £50 for all other claims
How do you know if your property is of "non standard"
construction?
The easiest way to explain what a property of 'non standard
construction' is, is to define it as a property that is not made of
brick or stone walls, with a slate or tiled roof. There are lots of
examples of 'non standard' construction properties, but they tend
to be very specific to an area, depending on the type of materials
that were readily available to build.
Examples of 'non standard' construction homes
There are lots of examples of 'non standard' construction homes,
from ones built purely of timber to concrete and prefabricated
homes. There are nearly 1.5 million of the latter types of homes in
the UK and were mainly built during and post-war as 'cheap'
housing. Unfortunately unlike brick or stone, concrete doesn't last
as long and properties were soon suffering from crumbling concrete
and the steel that binds the concrete together corroding, causing
cracks to appear. As a result, it's difficult to get both a
mortgage and insurance to purchase or live in these types of
properties.
The reason mortgage companies don't like lending on these types
of homes is that these properties aren't deemed as 'safe to lend'
for various reasons. The main reason is that the demand for 'non
standard' homes is restricted, so if you default on the mortgage,
then it will be more difficult for them to sell and recoup their
money. The other reasons include the difficulties in maintaining a
timber or concrete home, and therefore they don't want to lend in
case the property hasn't been properly maintained, which can result
in it losing its value very quickly.
