Home renovation insurance - Do I actually need it?

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renovation insurance

If you’re asking the question “do I need home renovation insurance?” then you’ve come to the right place. When we started our 1930s house renovation we were completely unaware about the need for renovation insurance, luckily we found out about it before any major renovation works had started.

So we’re also going to cover some other crucial topics about home renovation insurance to make sure that you go into your project fully aware of the ins and outs of this slightly dry but nonetheless important topic!

So do I need home renovation insurance then?

There was one point during our renovation when we thought “phew….glad we’ve got insurance!” and that was when we witnessed some cracking in the plaster after one of our contractors did some work- yikes. Now, if we didn’t have insurance, it would have been very different, we can only imagine the sleepless nights as we pictured ‘breaking our house’s back’ whilst wincing at every little midnight house creak! As it turns out, plaster cracks are quite common as things settle so for us there was nothing to worry about in the end thankfully.

Many people go into renovations unaware that they do need renovation insurance, that’s why we actually make it one of our mini-tasks inside our How to Renovate Online Course to make the phone call to check and if not, get sorted!

Will my existing home insurance policy cover my home renovation?

renovation insurance

The answer to this is where a lot of newbie renovators fall down, and that is: “not necessarily”. Many home renovation policies stop short of covering the entire renovation, in particular where certain structural or more extensive changes are being made. So as a first port of call you’ll need to check with your existing home insurance provider to find out what kind of limitations your current policy has on it.

It’s important to note that new materials won’t be covered by your existing insurer until they are fitted, that’s where specialist insurance comes in.

How about my builder’s insurance won’t that cover the renovation?

Contractors should have in place Employers Liability Insurance and Public Liability Insurance (usually at least least £2m) but this would only cover claims in the event of their negligence. If there was an accident that happened that was not their fault, there would be no pay out from their side.

How do I get specialist renovation insurance?

As mentioned above, you’ll firstly want to speak to your existing insurer and find out if your project can be covered through them. The info you need differs between insurers but example things to have to hand are:

  • Details of the building works

  • The rebuild cost of any existing structures (there are calculators online for this)

  • The cost of the contract works

  • The duration of the contract

If you discover you need specific renovation insurance we’ve teamed up with the lovely peeps at Renovation Plan insurance to bring their specialist renovation insurance to you for a discounted rate, just use the code FiFiMcGee2020, you just use that on the Fifi McGee Renovation Plan page.

Full transparency: we obtain a piece of commission for any policies sold through the link above.

Anyway, hope you found this helpful! Happy (and safe) renovating!