Do I have to inform my home insurance provider if I’m renovating my home?

Renovating your house can be an exciting time – you get to upgrade your current living situation and make your house perfectly tailored to your needs. However, a lot of people are unsure whether or not they have to tell their home insurance company during renovations, and if they can keep their current home insurance during building work.

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to whether or not you need to inform your home insurance provider of any works you undertake to improve your home. You need to carefully check the terms of your home insurance.

Should I tell my insurer about home improvements?

It is always sensible to inform your home insurer during building work. You may not need to, but it is worth asking. This is because if you fail to inform them when you should have informed them, you may find that your home insurance is no longer valid.

What type of renovations should I tell my insurance company about?

Most insurance companies will not need to be informed if you are making small adjustments to your home. This is because there are no large additional risks during small improvements. For example, you probably will not have to tell an insurer if you fit a new interior door in your house. On the other hand, most insurance companies will want to know about large renovations. With this in mind it is still worth checking your policy details or contacting your insurer over any changes just to be safe.

Why do I have to inform my home insurance company during renovations?

When you are having renovations done to your home, there is a higher risk of you having to claim on your home insurance. This is because there is an increased risk of accident or damage to the property. You are also likely to have more people in your home, who could get hurt or cause an incident.

What about contents?

During renovations, you will probably have strangers in your home and will have expensive equipment in the house. This means that you may also need to consider your contents insurance for the duration of your renovations.

Could my home insurance go up from renovations?

If you have major renovations done and it increases the value of your home, you may find that your home insurance becomes more expensive to reflect the increased cost to the insurer should your home become damaged.

Do I need to tell my insurance provider if I am decorating my house?

Again, most insurers do not need to know about minor changes to the house. However, it is always wise to check your insurance policy documents. If you are unsure, you can get in touch with your home insurance provider.

Can renovations invalidate my insurance?

Most renovations will not change your insurance significantly. However, if you have an unusual or structural renovations done, you may want to check if your insurer can still insure your property before going ahead.

This article is intended as generic information only and is not intended to apply to anybody’s specific circumstances, demands or needs. The views expressed are not intended to provide any financial service or to give any recommendation or advice. Products and services are only mentioned for illustrative rather than promotional purposes.