Insuring a Property During Renovation Work
Home insurance is written on assumptions about how a property is occupied and used. Substantial building work breaks several of them at once, and cover can reduce or cease entirely without the owner realising.
The two triggers
Unoccupancy is the first. Most policies restrict cover once a property is empty beyond a stated period, commonly thirty to sixty consecutive days. After that, perils such as theft, escape of water and malicious damage are frequently excluded.
Structural work is the second. Many policies exclude or limit cover during works above a certain value, or where the structure is opened up.
Renovation typically involves both simultaneously, which is why this is a common gap.
What you need instead
Renovation or unoccupied property insurance is a specific product covering the building during works, usually including the existing structure, the works themselves and public liability.
Contract works cover protects new materials and partially completed work, which a standard policy does not.
Public liability matters more than owners expect during building work, because a site with contractors, deliveries and scaffolding presents risks a normal home does not.
Who covers what between you and the builder
This is the most common source of dispute. A contractor's insurance covers their liability for their own negligence. It does not usually cover the existing structure, and it does not cover you as owner.
For substantial projects the contract should state clearly who insures the existing structure, who insures the works, and in whose name. Standard construction contracts address this explicitly, and informal arrangements frequently do not.
Ask the contractor for evidence of their public liability and employer's liability cover, sent directly from their broker rather than as a forwarded document.
Conditions that apply during works
Insurers usually impose requirements: securing the property, removing valuables, draining water systems in winter, restricting who has keys, and regular inspections if the property is empty.
Scaffolding must often be alarmed or removed at certain stages, since it provides access to upper floors.
Breaching these conditions can void a claim entirely, so read them and diarise the inspection requirement if one applies.
Practical steps before work starts
Tell the existing insurer what is planned, in writing, before anything begins. Some will extend cover for modest works; most will not for structural projects.
Arrange specialist cover to start before the first day on site, not after.
Photograph the property thoroughly beforehand. If a dispute arises about pre-existing damage, that record settles it.
Revert to standard cover once works complete and the property is occupied, and update the sum insured to reflect the improved property — an extension increases the rebuild cost, and the old figure will now be too low.
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