Cant get Insurance for flat roofed house

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machalla

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Having shopped around for house insurance today I found out something I didn't know (or was informed by my insurance brokers).

Due to my house having an entirely flat roof (well apart from a water tank) it seems I cannot get house insurance. This is despite it being mentioned to the broker who insured the house for the past year before the insurance was taken out. They seemed to regard it as no problem at the time.

I rang around a few insurance companies today to be told that none of them will insure a flat roofed house. Anything above 25% of the area of the house and they won't do it.

The entire terrace of houses on both sides of the street have flat roofs and have been here since the 1920's.

Has anyone any advice on this or dealt with similar circumstances?
 
Re: Insurance for flat roofed house

Hi Macalla
Did you try FBD? They used to insure but you'd pay extra for it.
Also, get onto a decent broker; if all comes to all, they could probably refer it directly to Lloyds or someone.
Rebecca
 
Re: Insurance for flat roofed house

Do you mean that they won't insure you for storm damage to the roof or they won't insure you at all?
 
Re: Insurance for flat roofed house

Will not insure at all. Once the roof area is above 25%. This is from Hibernian, Allianz, Royal Sun and Alliance (AA home insurance).

I haven't tried FBD yet. Must do that. Thanks for that suggestion.

The house and street has been in place for 80 years or more.
 
Re: Insurance for flat roofed house

I tried FBD and they won't quote for it either. So that makes a sum total of 0 insurers prepared to insure my home. Despite being sold apparently invalid insurance last year.

The annoying thing is it was disclosed to the brokers and there was no problem with it last year efore the purchase of the house.
 
Re: Insurance for flat roofed house

I used to work for one of those insurers you have mentioned and I know for a fact that they have flat roofs larger than 25% on cover.Have you requested that they quote you excluding storm damage? - this is the only increased risk they have because of the flat roof.
What has happened to the broker that you arranged insurance with last time? I'm surprised he hasn't suggested this.
With 100% flat roof on line/phone standard quotes are out I'm afarid but if you have a decent broker they can approach professional underwriters (not a school leaver who has a checklist to tell them what they can and can't cover)who should be able to offer a tailored policy for you ( with some exclusions/conditions i.e. no storm cover or that you have roof inspected by builder evey year etc.). You will pay more than the norm I'm afraid. Do you have any business with a broker? Alternatively does your mortgage provider offer a policy (if applicable) - the large corporate clients would be able to make your case to their account manager in the insurance company. It is in their interest as you have to have at minimum fire only cover as required under the terms of most mortgages.
 
Re: Insurance for flat roofed house

If you have neighbours with similar roofs, could you ask them where they are insured?
 
Thanks for the suggestions Novice. I wondered where the increased risk came from with the roof. As there aren't any trees nearby its not much of a risk in that regard.

The brokers that I went with last year didn't even realise there was a problem with a flat roof despite being told about it last year. It was only when the person I talked to yesterday talked to his supervisor that he realised there would be a problem. He had never heard of this till yesterday it seems. They are trying to organise something with the insurer that gave us the policy last year but there are no guarantees as usual.

Rainyday, yes I have been thinking about that but as most of the houses along the road are rented out we don't really know the neighbours and they probably don't have building insurance as they are renting. I will have to try and see.

I noticed one broker that seems to deal with "non-standard" construction.



Thanks for the suggestions.
 
The flat roof thing is a legitimate risk. Even if they are well maintained and regularly refelted (and most aren't) they are notoriously leaky. In a case where the insurance company does not cover the cost of repairing a damaged roof due to poor maintenance, the ensuing damage to your house and contents can end up being very costly and water damage is one of the basic covers on most policies. It's not just storm damage they are worried about. 100% flat roof is unusual too; generally flat roof extensions constitute less than 25% of the entire roof area and anything over 50% would set alarm bells ringing.

Even on Grand Designs lately, one of these really wealthy imaginitive program-participants got Germans over to isntall a better class of flat roof as part of well-engineered design and no sooner were they on their way back to Germany, than the thing was leaking left right and centre.

Rebecca
 
Its not an extension though. Its the roof thats been on the house since it was built in the 1920's presumably. It has been maintained obviously over time and probably replaced with more up to date materials. It has been refelted in the last 3 years or so based on the surveyors report.

I have had some progress in that the company I linked to below will offer a policy that excludes storm damage (a very expensive policy mind you).
 
That's what I thought Machalla. Non standard policies are pricey.

Miss Ribena is right Flat Roofs are a nightmare and it will probably end up costing you a fortune in repairs.
 
Yes, the flat roof aspect has never appealled to me overall but we could accept that on a short term basis (about 5 years) due to circumstances. This insurance thing is more of a problem. The non-standard policy is about 5 times the quotes I had on normal policies.
 
It's ridiculous when you think about it - they are excluding storm which is the increased risk. I know there is a risk of water damage to contents and decoration but 5 times seems excessive. Have you tried your mortgage provider - they can often give competitive deals due to the size of the business they place with an insurer.
 
Given the incompetence of the mortgage provider in question (Ulster Bank) I would be loath to ask them anything other than the most basic of questions.

They managed to mess our mortgage application around to an unbelievable degree at the time. It was only through the grace of having a competent broker (Liam Ferguson) that helped us through this without there being murders involved...

Still if all comes to all I might try it. Thanks for the suggestion again.
 
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