Your home is probably your most valuable possession. When you undertake renovations, you are putting this most important asset at a much greater risk of damage or loss than ever before. 

Not only that, but the costs could be crippling and the emotional impact devastating if something does go wrong – so it pays to understand the risks before embarking on that loft conversion. 

Aren't I already covered? 

Many people assume that between their home insurance and their builder's insurance, they are insured for their renovation work in the event that anything goes wrong. 

However, the simple fact is that most homeowners are unprotected in the face of complications or accidents. Even many builders don't understand their insurance arrangements and how they work. 

My renovation is covered under my home insurance, right? 

It is an easy assumption to make. Your home insurance covers your buildings, so most assume it will cover you when work is being done on those buildings. 

Sadly, this is a dangerous and false assumption. In our experience, 86% of people make that assumption when they are having renovation works done, despite being out-of-cover more often than not. 

Your home insurance might allow you to carry out work – often up to a certain value – but that just means your existing cover is not invalidated. 

This isn't always the case though, with many policies stating your home insurance is invalidated if you do not inform them of the works. 

In this instance, not only is the property not covered, but you could suddenly find even your household possessions uninsured. 

Home insurance might cover unrelated accidents if you notify your provider ahead of time, but will rarely apply to damage caused by the renovation itself. (Photo: Nolan Issac)

Can't I ask my home insurer first? 

You can approach your provider before works begin, but it's not always straightforward. 

A homeowner can ask 'am I still covered' and receive a 'yes' back; but in reality, all they mean is that your buildings are still covered on a very basic level, like if there is a fire or flood for example. 

Let's look at some examples of what they don't mean. 

You won't be covered if your contractor damages your building 

Let's say your builder is working on a wall and it collapses. Your home insurance won't cover you for it. And your builder's insurance might not either, if it is not clear they were negligent. 

If they were negligent, they might not want to admit this and make a claim to avoid higher premiums in future. Even a successful claim is not necessarily a win for you, with the funds going to the builder rather than you. 

Not only that, but damage may occur to your home that is not the result of the builder's negligence even though it is still caused by the renovations – for example, a wall cracking as an old extension is demolished. 

In this situation, the builders have not done anything wrong, so their insurance will not cover the resulting damage. 

You won't be covered if your home needs to be rebuilt 

If something bigger goes wrong – say a chimney stack collapsing through your roof and all the way to the ground floor – your entire house could be catastrophically damaged, to the point where it needs to be entirely rebuilt. 

Your home insurers would almost certainly say that they are not liable, in which case you could be facing costs far beyond your ability to pay them, which can be a life-changing catastrophe. 

Renovations can pose major (and expensive) risks to your property. (Photo: Coversure Teddington)

You won't be covered if building materials are stolen or damaged 

If your building contract does not specify who should insure materials, then it is likely that your home insurer won't cover them if they are damaged or stolen. 

Your home insurance will not automatically cover possessions left in the building if you have moved out even if the house is occupied by builders every day. 

You will need to have told the insurer about the project, that you are no longer occupying the home and had explicit agreement that your contents cover would remain in place, and there is no guarantee that your insurer would agree to this! 

Most builders don't carry insurance for site materials unless they own them. If you have paid for them, they are almost certainly uninsured. 

Isn't renovation insurance more expensive than home insurance? 

Renovation insurance costs what it does because it is proportionate to the risk you face when carrying out renovations. 

Insuring your building during a renovation project is a completely different proposition to insuring an occupied home. The insurers are effectively covering a building site rather than a domestic home, which is a much riskier proposition. 

Renovation insurance is closer to insuring a construction site than it is a residential home. (Photo: Greyson Joralemon)

Why are the risks higher during renovations? 

The higher cost of renovations insurance is a clue. If serious problems during renovations were extraordinarily rare; then the insurance wouldn't cost very much. 

Sadly, they are not rare at all. But renovation insurance is also relatively expensive because if something goes wrong then it can cost a lot of money to put it right. 

As you can see, you cannot depend on your home insurance when you undergo renovations. 

Even when home insurers 'note' that work is taking place and agree to continue cover, they will often have a specific exclusion that says 'any loss or damage relating to the works is excluded'. 

When it comes to something as important (and valuable) as your home, exclusions like this are not worth the risk. 

Coversure's friendly and responsive team is ready to answer any and all questions, for renovation insurance and beyond. To get in touch, visit their website here. 

Thank you to our sponsor Coversure Teddington for supporting Teddington Nub News. Without them, this online newspaper would not be possible. 

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