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Buying a house - when to insure

Buying a house - when should you insure?

A frequently asked question when you're buying a house is when you should you insure it?

Is Insurance needed from Exchange or Completion?

Insurance should be got on exchange. Some insurance companies let you set it up in advance and then you can just confirm when it needs to start when your solicitor tells you that you've exchanged.

However, if exchange and completion are going to be close together you could ask to run the whole policy from exchange as you're not going to save that much on a few days contents cover. However when you ask for quotes you should check out whether how much the content is and whether you get a discount by getting them together.

Most companies are very experienced at dealing with insurance for your new house so will understand your questions!

Your duty to insure derives from the contract, Standrad Condition 5 (4th ed). If the seller is passing 'risk' to you, then you should insure, as any damage to the property post exchange then falls to you, and you still have to complete. The reason is more to do with the seller having to complete on their property even if their buyer pulls out... However...

Most solicitors and conveyancers advise buyers to insure from exchange.

Most mortgage lenders will require the borrower to insure from exchange too.

What happens if you buy a flat? Many flats will have a service charge on them which usually includes building insurance. Do you still need to buy your own policy?

If the service charge includes building insurance you shouldn't need to buy your own. But when your solicitor checks the service charge payments are up to date he should also check the management company has indeed put building cover in place. This is something they should check but you can always ask them to confirm it.