insurance company recomendations for a thatched cottage?

[robgil]

anyone?
ive seen the list on the ppuk site but just thought i would ask on here as well.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

NFU seem quite clued up. We had quotes from them when we were looking at a thatched cottage last year.

 

[robgil]

dont you need to be a farmer? i was going to get my motor insurance from them at one stage but i thought you had to be a farmer for some reason.

 

[Penners]

NO, NFU Mutual will insure anyone.

My daughter's house is thatched, and she uses NFU. She's not a farmer (although she does listen to The Archers :wink: )

You will inevitably end up paying more than you would for a house with slate/tile roofing, but it's worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[Hatster]

NFU are very nice - they insure our house and contents. You have an actual person with a name who is your insurance representative, and you phone her / him up when you need to claim.

They also send out such insanely polite letters when you claim that it's almost impossible to distinguish the one sentence telling you what to do next in the long paragraphs saying "Thank you very much... We were sorry to hear... Thank you... We look forward to... Thank you again..." British over-politeness at its best.

 

[Anita]

We use Bruford Valance - a small broker in Taunton - under the Ecclesiastical Historic Houses scheme. They are great to deal with, and you are able to speak to a "designated person who deals with your specific policy, and not via a call centre.

 

[robgil]

thanks guys. i have called nfu and they are having trouble with the extension. its clay lump with an asbestos cement corrugated roof.
we do plan on putting a new roof on there at one point however the pitch is limiting us to what we can do with it, but thats another story.
i just called Bruford Valance and apparently they don't do thatched buildings any more.

 

[fjpdesigns]

I use NFU. They are very competitive, and certainly polite, although I havn't had to try and claim from them yet - touch wood.

 

[Hatster]

Our claim was my husband cycling into a car and crumpling his bike, which I was amazed we could claim for!

 

[robgil]

the plot thickens.
our survey does not give any indication as to a re-build cost , this is not something i would like to hazard a guess on.
also , in the survey it says ,

there has been some subsidence affecting the front left hand corner. whilst externally cracks have been made good and painted over we noted that there was some fracture cracks visible internally above the front door. this indicates that there is inadequate foundation for the ground conditions. the crack needs to be monitored in case underpinning needs to be carried out.

so , how do i get around this? most insurers have said they wont insure against subsidence with a report like this unless its stated as 'historic none progressive' in the survey , which it does not.

 

[Penners]

Hmmm - I think you need to be talking to PPUK's affiliate insurers, La Playa. Ask them for their views and advice.

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/ppuk_insuring.shtml

 

[robgil]

yup i think you may be right , i shall give them a buzz in the morning and see what they say.
i am also wondering where you draw the line between a building site and a house under repair?
i shall see what la playa say and report back.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

the plot thickens.
our survey does not give any indication as to a re-build cost , this is not something i would like to hazard a guess on.
also , in the survey it says ,

there has been some subsidence affecting the front left hand corner. whilst externally cracks have been made good and painted over we noted that there was some fracture cracks visible internally above the front door. this indicates that there is inadequate foundation for the ground conditions. the crack needs to be monitored in case underpinning needs to be carried out.

so , how do i get around this? most insurers have said they wont insure against subsidence with a report like this unless its stated as 'historic none progressive' in the survey , which it does not.

Given that it's timber-framed, that sounds like it might be a rotten sole plate, as seen at another property in the Cambridge area with which you were nearly familiar :wink: But as you aren't listed this time, the rebuild cost could simply be for toshing it up to look the same in breezeblock and render (£1000 - £1500 / sq m max), plus the luxury of a thatched roof.

 

[worms]

Our claim was my husband cycling into a car and crumpling his bike, which I was amazed we could claim for!

I guess it would be small beer for NFU Mutual who must frequently have much more dramatic incidents, many equally self-inflicted:

More such pictures are at the Farmers Weekly's wreckers yard pages http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/Search.aspx?Topics=1842&NavigationID=291

 

[Penners]

as you aren't listed this time, the rebuild cost could simply be for toshing it up to look the same in breezeblock

It's always nice to read the words of a professional, giving sensitive advice on the conservation of our architectural heritage. :roll:

 

[robgil]

ok guys , its crunch time. la playa wont touch us because we are not paying a contractor over 50k to do the work, nfu wont do it either.
self build zone will cover us and we are waiting for a quote from renovations zone. i will give ecclesiastical a try also.
can anyone recommend anyone else?
la playa said that our rebuild cost would be around 250 quid per square meter replacing like for like , does that sound about right for a timber framed house?

 

[Jon Maine]

That's a very fair point made by Gareth, it may not be subsidence but a rotten sole plate. I think it would be in your interests to get a bit of exposing done and possibly get a structural engineer who knows his stuff to write you another report clarifying the position if it is not subsidence as this will be an ongoing financial commitment for you otherwise just because a surveyor has made a wrong assumption. ( of course he may also be right )

 

[robgil]

we have figured out that the subsidence is due to the house and extension not moving in the same direction. the crack has appeared above a door on the new extension , its a slab of concrete and block extension with a flat felt roof. the house has signs of historical movement , one interior wall is slanting over but this happened a long time ago. anyhow its because the extension is solid and the house is doing what timber framed houses do , its wobbling around.

this is the crack in the new extension that was mentioned on the survey,

this is the slanting wall in the old house but its regarded as historical movement , its my favourite wall.

 

[garnett]

Hi

I went to a seminar last month regarding fire and thatch run by the Master Thatchers and the various insurance companies and the fire and rescue services. Thatch insurance is becoming a serious issue for them at the moment. This is because the number of thatch fires has increased four fold over the last 10 years. They put this down to the introduction of woodburners. Particularly there is a direct link with metal flues where they pass through the thatch.

Many now exclude cover for thatch buildings with metal flues and woodburners.

NFU is one of the better insureres as it often sends out a surveyor before they offer cover but they sometimes find problems as you have found.

The seminar was sponsored by Payle Russell (Special Risks) ltd who are Thatch and Listed Building Specialist.

Provided that you don't have a log burner they are worth a try.

Good Luck

Garnett

 

[Ushy M]

NFU is one of the better insureres as it often sends out a surveyor before they offer cover but they sometimes find problems as you have found.

The seminar was sponsored by Payle Russell (Special Risks) ltd who are Thatch and Listed Building Specialist.

We used to be insured with Playle Russell who were fine to deal with although we never had a claim. They stopped offering insurance on thatched houses unless they're detached (we're on the end of a row of 3 cottages). We're now insured with NFU, who know we have a woodburner in one fireplace (with a liner which is insulatedwith rockwool sleeving) and one open fireplace.