Home renovation insurance

Renovation insurance covers you for the things that might go wrong while building works are being carried out at your property.

While most contractors will have insurance for the works carried out on your home, this may not protect you in all circumstances. Therefore it’s likely that you will still need buildings insurance in place to protect your property both whilst it’s unoccupied, and against risks such as fire, theft, flood and subsidence.

Do I need renovation insurance?

If your property will be unoccupied for more than 30 or 60 days while it’s undergoing renovation works, then you may require a specialist home renovation insurance policy. You may also require additional cover if works are extensive, or if expensive equipment and materials will be kept at the property during building works.

Some home insurance providers will provide cover for your property while it’s undergoing renovations, but this is usually reviewed on a case by case basis, and some insurers won’t be able to provide cover at all. 

If you’re planning on renovating your property, you should notify your current home insurance provider as soon as possible to discuss your options. 

My home insurance will cover my property during building work, will this cover be enough?

Even if your current provider does agree to provide cover under your existing home insurance policy, it may only be for a short period of time, and cover could even be restricted. 

Taking out specialist building renovation insurance will ensure that your property is protected against major risks such as fire, theft, flood and malicious damage - even if you’re expecting your property to be unoccupied during the renovations.  

What happens with my renovation home insurance once the renovation is complete?

Once your renovation works are completed and have been signed off under building regulations, then your home insurance can resume as normal – but remember that you will need to update your rebuild value to reflect the renovated property (for example, if the number of bedrooms has increased). 

As well as providing cover full cover for your buildings and property owners’ liability cover, we can also provide cover for:

• Properties already undergoing renovation
• We can provide full cover, even if the property is unoccupied during the renovations
• Property renovation projects, whether completed by you or a hired contractor
• No extra costs for works of £100,000 or under

Yes, our renovation home insurance will provide cover for your unoccupied property while renovation works are being carried out – however, please note this will only provide cover for the property itself rather than insuring the renovation works.

Your contractor (if you have one) will usually arrange their own liability cover that will insure the risk of renovating the property. If you’re carrying out the renovation works yourself, it will be your responsibility to arrange this cover. 

My contractor already has liability cover – do I still need to take out renovation insurance?

Yes – as above, your contractor will only cover the liability for the works themselves, for example, if a passer-by were to get injured as a result of the construction. Therefore, it does not provide any cover for the physical building.

Renovation insurance is there to protect your property against risks such as fire, flood, theft, malicious damage, and anything else that won’t be covered under your contractors’ liability insurance.

Contact our specialist team today (or arrange for us to call you) with the details of your property and we’ll find you our most competitive price. More often than not, we can get you a quote right there and then.

Then all you need to do is let us know when you want to go ahead and we’ll get you set up.

What information do you need for a renovation insurance quote?

Before getting a quote for renovation home insurance, it’s useful to have the following information to hand:

• What type of renovation work you are undertaking?
• Do you have a JCT Standard Building Contract in place?
• Are you hiring contractors or carrying out the work yourself? Don’t worry, we can provide cover for both.
• How much will the renovation cost?
• How long will the renovation take?
• What will the property be used for once the works are complete? For example, will it become your main home or will you sell it?

 Please provide the current rebuild value before the works begin. We will then keep a note on your policy of the estimated costs of the project.

If you are unsure what your current rebuild is, there are a number of online resources that can help you - such as the ABI rebuild calculator.

Once the renovation works have been completed, you will then need to increase the rebuild value stated on your policy to reflect the increase in value, post-renovation.

How do I calculate the rebuild value?

Yes, we are able to provide cover for renovation works that have already begun.

We are able to provide comprehensive buildings and property owners’ liability cover for listed buildings, including grade I, II and II* properties that are over 100 years old.

We are also able to provide cover for unoccupied listed buildings while they are undergoing renovation.

Find out more about listed property insurance.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide cover for renovation projects that include a basement being added to the structure of the property.

If the barn is undergoing its first conversion, then we will be unable to provide cover while it’s being renovated.

However, if the barn has already been converted and registered as a residential property and you are now undertaking further renovation work, we will be able to provide cover for this.

Find out more about barn conversion insurance.

Our house renovation insurance policies provide cover for a minimum of 12 months, and your policy will be tailored to the renovation works as you described them to us during quote stage.

If the project will take longer, changes or completes sooner than expected, you will just need to contact us so we can update your policy.