Home Can't get house insurance for house over 100 years

TillyD

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Hi,

As the title says but there is another piece of the story...

The house was insured by the owner (elderly man) but 10 years ago the father put his son as an named person on the house insurance. However, the son has moved out and unfortunately father and son are no longer on talking terms.

The elderly man seemingly can't get the son off the insurance without a letter from the son stating he is no longer on the insurance. We have looked at other insurance brokers but they will not insure the house because it is over 100 years old, in very good condition might I add.

There was also a claim on the insurance to the value of 18.000 4 years ago. House fire, all repaired since.

The issue is the son attached to the insurance that seems to be the main issue.

Can anyone advise, tia.

Tilly.
 
Allianz will do houses over 100 years. But its probably the claim that's putting people off.
 
We had great difficulty getting anyone to quote on our >100 years old cottage. (I don't think we tried Allianz). We eventually came across http://www.dolmen-insurance.ie who provided cover at a reasonable price.

They might be another option for you to try.

Paul
 
There are probably a number of insurers on the market that will look at this, we would normally place cases like this with Lloyds, who have a broader risk appetite.
 
My house is over 200 years old and we use AIG. When we got it originally, we had to have a structural report done on the property but that was a once off and haven't had any trouble since. We have been insured with RSA in the past too.


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
 
let it lapse. Just prior to lapsing, most insurers will contact to let you know and you can probably take out new policy again.
 
let it lapse. Just prior to lapsing, most insurers will contact to let you know and you can probably take out new policy again.

IF taking out a new policy will insurers not ask a question at proposal stage about the age of property proposed for insurance ?
 
Looking at purchasing a 200 year old cottage as a holiday home. Any advice on who specifically who would be good to approach for insurance. Someone (Jimbobp) mentioned Lloyds and their larger risk appetite, would this be through a broker. If a survey is needed anyone any experience of this in an older house. It would have had a significant flat roofed extension added in 1990 ish.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
RSA seems to be our best option for the past few years, house is 140 years old 2 storey, no flat roof though.
 
Looking at purchasing a 200 year old cottage as a holiday home. Any advice on who specifically who would be good to approach for insurance. Someone (Jimbobp) mentioned Lloyds and their larger risk appetite, would this be through a broker. If a survey is needed anyone any experience of this in an older house. It would have had a significant flat roofed extension added in 1990 ish.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Alan B Kidds.
 
Hi,
SNIP SNIP
The house was insured by the owner (elderly man) but 10 years ago the father put his son as an named person on the house insurance. However, the son has moved out and unfortunately father and son are no longer on talking terms.

The elderly man seemingly can't get the son off the insurance without a letter from the son stating he is no longer on the insurance. We have looked at other insurance brokers but they will not insure the house because it is over 100 years old, in very good condition might I add.

SNIP SNIP

The issue is the son attached to the insurance that seems to be the main issue.

Tilly.

I am curious about the aspect relating to the sons attachment to the insurance.

How was this done and on what basis ?

I assume that the son's name is on the policy as a joint policyholder with the elderly gent.
The act of adding the son does not automatically mean that he [son] is entitled to be a joint policyholder.
The son has to have what is called insurable interest to be entitled to be a joint policyholder.
If the son has no insurable interest in the property the mere act of nominating him as a joint policyholder is a nullity.
If there is no insurable interest vested in the son his permission is not needed to detach himself from the policy as he should not have been on it in the first place.

Insurable interest arises in many ways including ownership or contract.
In the context of property the basic concept is that an individual has insurable interest when it is to their financial benefit that the subject matter of the insurance is not damaged or destroyed or that they will suffer financial loss if the property is lost or damaged or destroyed.
 
It's possible the OP means that the son was given authority to act / contact the insurance company wrt to the insurance and / or claim. I've done similar in the past for family members who found it difficult / tiring to handle such matters due to illness, but a full blown power of attorney wouldn't haven been appropriate.
 
Looking at purchasing a 200 year old cottage as a holiday home. Any advice on who specifically who would be good to approach for insurance. Someone (Jimbobp) mentioned Lloyds and their larger risk appetite, would this be through a broker. If a survey is needed anyone any experience of this in an older house. It would have had a significant flat roofed extension added in 1990 ish.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Did you read the rest of the replies on this thread? @SBarrett mentioned AIG and RSA that he had been insured with for 200 year old house, while I said I am insured with FBD for house over 100 years. Have you rang the above 3 companies...?
 
It's possible the OP means that the son was given authority to act / contact the insurance company wrt to the insurance and / or claim. I've done similar in the past for family members who found it difficult / tiring to handle such matters due to illness, but a full blown power of attorney wouldn't haven been appropriate.

Yes, I see that point which is entirely valid and sensible but I don't see it getting past the presence of the son on the title of the policy in the absence of insurable interest.
 
There seems to be no regulation of insurance companies when it comes to houses over 100 years old in Ireland. They look for every excuse either to refuse or charge very high premiums. Some of the questions they ask,

1) Was the roof, plumbing, electrics replaced within the last 25-40 years?
2) Is the house in a flood zone?
3) Is the house in a area of subsidence? You get penalised if your house is within an asses roar of a house where a claim was made. They do not pay any attention to engineers reports even when they say the house is not affected by subsidence or land heave.
4) Is there someone living in the house? So if you have to get some work done before you move in, you will not be able to get insurance.

Buyers beware!
This could put you in a very difficult situation if you sign purchase contracts and find out a few days before closing the sale that you cannot get house insurance.

Insurance companies offer competitive premiums on houses with little/no risk and are allowed to refuse or charge extortinate premiums when there is even a remote sign of risk.
 
There seems to be no regulation of insurance companies when it comes to houses over 100 years old in Ireland. They look for every excuse either to refuse or charge very high premiums. Some of the questions they ask,

1) Was the roof, plumbing, electrics replaced within the last 25-40 years?
2) Is the house in a flood zone?
3) Is the house in a area of subsidence? You get penalised if your house is within an asses roar of a house where a claim was made. They do not pay any attention to engineers reports even when they say the house is not affected by subsidence or land heave.
4) Is there someone living in the house? So if you have to get some work done before you move in, you will not be able to get insurance.

Buyers beware!
This could put you in a very difficult situation if you sign purchase contracts and find out a few days before closing the sale that you cannot get house insurance.

Insurance companies offer competitive premiums on houses with little/no risk and are allowed to refuse or charge extortinate premiums when there is even a remote sign of risk.

And that is how insurers works. There is no requirement for regulation of insurance companies for houses. There is no obligation on any insurer to provide you a quote. This isn't motor insurance where the state has an obligation.

So in essence in terms of your questions about 100 year old houses:
1) electrics replaced? Not really unreasonable! The property is 100 years old, you want them to insure a fire trap with archaic electrics???
2) house in a flood zone? Question is asked for every property, even one built a year ago. Again entirely reasonable.
3) Subsidence? Standard on all property. not restricted to 100 year old houses and perfectly reasonable. If you say yes, and provide answers to questions then you are generally fine.
4) Someone living there? Again asked on all properties. You will be able to get insurance, its generally restricted to fire only.

So for your first post, that's a real BS rant.
 
1) Was the roof, plumbing, electrics replaced within the last 25-40 years?
2) Is the house in a flood zone?
3) Is the house in a area of subsidence? You get penalised if your house is within an asses roar of a house where a claim was made. They do not pay any attention to engineers reports even when they say the house is not affected by subsidence or land heave.
4) Is there someone living in the house? So if you have to get some work done before you move in, you will not be able to get insurance.

Those are all very reasonable questions to ask, and all have a direct correlation to the risk you're asking the insurance company to take on, so it's only right that they should ask. Look at the alternative, should all other policy holders pay an additional premium to cover losses incurred by fires or leaks caused by seriously out of date wiring or plumbing?
 
The point I am trying to make is that there is something wrong when you call almost every Insurance company and broker in your hour of need and they refuse to quote on a completly habitable house,

- electrics replaced in 1980 Not too unreasonable and quite commonplace in Ireland. Just over the 25 year limit imposed by a number of
insurance companies. Calling it a firetrap with archaic electrics is a bit of an overaction and helps to explain why the industry is the way it
is. Perhaps you should leave these judgements to qualified electricians?
- Is the house in a flood zone? So if the house is in Cork is it right to assume it is in a flood zone even though it might be on top of a
Patricks hill?
- Is the house in an area of subsidence? How exactly do insurance companies define an area of subsidence? If a house is 500 meters from a
house that has subsided, is it fair to tar all houses within 500m with the same brush? (even though an engineers report states that it is
unaffected). This seems to be a show stopper for some insurance companies. Some insurance companies just exclude it. Others get the
hebegeebies and hang up.
- Is there someone living there? Usually when a house is being sold there is nobody living there so why are there no exceptions made for
this or at least restrict it to fire and public liability until the new owner or tenants move in.

Taken from the Insurance Ireland website,

"As the leading representative body for Ireland’s insurance sector Insurance Ireland is the primary source of industry intelligence and opinion for legislators, regulators, consumers and professionals. Through our Councils, Committees and Working Groups we engage with the Irish government, domestic regulatory authorities and the Financial Services Ombudsman on all of the issues of concern to our members. Our aim is to prevent legislation or regulation that is unnecessary and to ensure that what is necessary is designed and implemented in a way that meets its policy objectives without causing unnecessary harm to the insurance market."

High fives all around!
 
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