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[Radar]

I've found LV give competitive quotes - might be worth a try?

[tunnie]

.... done rather well on my flat in London ....

Well done 

Cheers, very, very surprised actually, at the price we got. I felt I was aiming high, but it sold in 4 days of being listed 

You (and I) seem to have bought in a good area too, the set of 6 houses, of which I have bought one, all sold within 3 weeks.  Market data of the area also showed a modest increase in prices even during the past 6 years

Yeah, we think its great, everything very near. 

Good luck to you tunnie

Thanks 

I've found LV give competitive quotes - might be worth a try?

Cheers, will try them 

[Sir Tigger KC]

I've found LV give competitive quotes - might be worth a try?

Seconded. 

[AndyRoid]

What is a good price? Never had to pay building insurance before (living in a flat) Current providers Avivia, who were way cheaper than Direct Line want £39.40 a month at my *hopeful* new place.

Halifax just offered price of price of £27 a month, with no charge for direct debit.

Both are basic policies, with no extras. Although with Halifax I have asked about the garage 

They said tools & parts are covered (as long as its not business use) up to £5k for theft, and unlimited for fire/flood. Also questioned what proof was needed, stated photos and such would help for high value items, but most not required. 

House is 1930's approx, detached in Surrey.

'Foookkkin ell' .......you can't be short of a bob or two.

All depends on what part of Surrey it is really.

Somewhere like Mitcham or Croydon won't be that expensive as they went down the pan years ago, but move to the other side of Surrey (eg, Godalming, Chilworth, Petworth, etc) and you're in a whole different world where the garden shed alone will cost you more than what most properties cost.

[I_want_an_Omega]

On the buildings side of things - you need to ensure that damage caused by escaping water is covered, and that this covers outside pipework as well as the more usual inside stuff.

The water companies responsibility stops at the water meter/external stop-cock. If you have a leak after that it's down to you.

This has happened to us twice now    so I know that the repair can be expensive (i.e. 000s) and you also need to factor is the loss of metered water. In each case we were looking at repair costs of about £3,000 plus the water cost.

Insurance companies try and wriggle out of the water loss element saying that the water company will let you off. That's only partly true - as it's an ace that you can only play once at your time at an address.

So, yes, I am sure you can save a few pounds by skimping on this cover - but it could bite you very badly if you are not covered.

On a positive note, the type of pipe which is susceptible to this type of failure was used in the 60s & 70s (called Alkathene IIRC) so you might be ok on an older house unless any repairs/alterations have been done. It's the black hard plastic stuff that you may have seen, it goes brittle with age and can then leak. The more modern blue stiff is fine.

Hope the the voice of experience helps here. 

TTFN - Rob

[TheBoy]

The water companies responsibility stops at the water meter/external stop-cock. If you have a leak after that it's down to you.

Not entirely that straightforward as from a couple of years ago.

You are responsible for pipework meets all of the following critia:
Its within your property boundary
Its not shared pipework
Its beyond your first dedicated stopcock

[I_want_an_Omega]

The water companies responsibility stops at the water meter/external stop-cock. If you have a leak after that it's down to you.

Not entirely that straightforward as from a couple of years ago.

You are responsible for pipework meets all of the following critia:
Its within your property boundary
Its not shared pipework
Its beyond your first dedicated stopcock

Er, I'd sort of assumed those criteria were met in my statement, but you are correct. My experience is that insurers have paid out twice on this type of claim within the last seven years, so the point that I'm making is that it is a real risk which can be mitigated by having insurance which covers it

[TheBoy]

The water companies responsibility stops at the water meter/external stop-cock. If you have a leak after that it's down to you.

Not entirely that straightforward as from a couple of years ago.

You are responsible for pipework meets all of the following critia:
Its within your property boundary
Its not shared pipework
Its beyond your first dedicated stopcock

Er, I'd sort of assumed those criteria were met in my statement, but you are correct. My experience is that insurers have paid out twice on this type of claim within the last seven years, so the point that I'm making is that it is a real risk which can be mitigated by having insurance which covers it

Yeah, just clarifing a bit, as many homes from the 60s and 70s actually have shared pipes running through the gardens, and shorter T's

My water company keep ringing trying to sell me that exact cover, and get the right hump when I point out that they are already responsible for my pipework right up to my house, as that is where my stopcock and meter are.

[I_want_an_Omega]

The water companies responsibility stops at the water meter/external stop-cock. If you have a leak after that it's down to you.

Not entirely that straightforward as from a couple of years ago.

You are responsible for pipework meets all of the following critia:
Its within your property boundary
Its not shared pipework
Its beyond your first dedicated stopcock

Er, I'd sort of assumed those criteria were met in my statement, but you are correct. My experience is that insurers have paid out twice on this type of claim within the last seven years, so the point that I'm making is that it is a real risk which can be mitigated by having insurance which covers it

Yeah, just clarifing a bit, as many homes from the 60s and 70s actually have shared pipes running through the gardens, and shorter T's

My water company keep ringing trying to sell me that exact cover, and get the right hump when I point out that they are already responsible for my pipework right up to my house, as that is where my stopcock and meter are.

Fair point. In both cases our leaks were some distance from the actual house. In 2006 it was about 40 feet away and about 25 feet last year. Their combined (and underground) stopcock/water meter was just inside our boundary and then a long underground pipe into the house. Both repairs involved contractors brought in by the water company. The 2006 water loss was about £1,000 and £400 last year on top of the civils cost of the pipe repair. In both cases it was brittle black pipe that had failed.

[tunnie]

Well it's all hold for these quotes now, Survey found garage roof is made from Asbestos 

It's crappy pre-fab thing, which was going to get knocked down anyway at some point. Thinking of getting current owners to do it now, or we drop our price by however much it costs to be professionally removed.

Also going to ask for electrical survey, nothing done in last 10 years at least, no tests, or anything

[Kevin Wood]

Well it's all hold for these quotes now, Survey found garage roof is made from Asbestos 

What type of asbestos and in what condition? It's not necessarily doom and gloom. Guessing it's white asbestos / cement. If it's not in bad condition and flaking up, then it's probably not a worry all the time it's there, but it will incurr costs when it comes to disposing of it.

Also going to ask for electrical survey, nothing done in last 10 years at least, no tests, or anything

Not really surprising. Who has their house regularly tested as a matter of course? My only concern would be if someone's been in there bodging, but a survey will no doubt tell you that none of it is up to the latest regs and it needs a re-wire (not surprising, they change as often as I change my socks).

Both good bargaining points, but I wouldn't let either put me off a house I've set my plans on.

[TheBoy]

Asbestos, or dangerous asbestos (blue, IIRC?).

[tunnie]

Quote from the report:

The garage roof is formed in corrugated asbestos but we cannot comment on its condition as we did not gain access to the inside of it.

[Kevin Wood]

Quote from the report:

The garage roof is formed in corrugated asbestos but we cannot comment on its condition as we did not gain access to the inside of it.

If you have concerns, I would ask the surveyor for his opinion, which may be more than he was prepared to write in his report due to ass-covering. Shame he didn't bother to gain access to the garage, though, although that may also be ass-covering! You paid for the survey, after all.

[Kevin Wood]

As to the electrics, try to get the vendor to do an electrical survey, by all means, but see if you can find out when it was last re-wired.