The Independent’s journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. Why trust us?
Although it isn’t a legal requirement to take out non-standard home insurance, without it you may find you haven’t got adequate cover when you need to make a claim.
Homes with non-standard construction features, such as a timber frame or flat roof, have different insurance needs from the average property. For example, they can be more expensive to repair due to the materials and techniques involved.
Your home doesn’t have to be built from different materials for you to consider specialist cover, however. If it has other unique attributes that make it high risk, such as being a listed building or being in danger of flooding, you may want to look into non-standard home insurance.
Below, we take a look at when you should consider this kind of cover and how you can get the best home insurance quote for your specialist requirements.
There are several situations in which your home may be classed as a non-standard property. In these cases, you might want to consider non-standard home insurance, rather than a regular policy, to make sure you’re properly covered. This approach is recommended if your home is:
Similarly, you may want to consider non-standard home insurance depending on your personal circumstances, such as if:
You might want to consider specialist contents insurance for other circumstances, such as if you have a high-value collection of memorabilia or other items.
It’s not just the circumstances around your home that may require non-standard cover. Certain building features can necessitate non-standard construction insurance:
Whether you have standard or non-standard home insurance, the policies tend to fall into the same two categories:
It’s possible to get combined buildings and contents insurance. This means having one policy with one provider, potentially making it easier to make a claim. By including your home insurance, you may receive a discount on your premium.
Non-standard home insurance is likely going to cost more than standard cover. But how much it actually costs will vary greatly depending on the type of specialist cover. The more unique your home, the more expensive your cover will be. This is because any claim you make will likely be above the national average.
Other factors that influence the cost of your home insurance, non-standard or otherwise, include:
When taking out non-standard home insurance, you’ll need to tell your provider:
You should be able to find this information on the deeds of the property. You’ll also need to make sure you have the correct documentation for the specialist elements of your home, such as certificates for the treatment of your thatched roof.
To get the best and cheapest home insurance quote, you should consider:
There are a number of providers and brokers that deal with specialist non-standard home insurance, including:
The rebuild cost of your home is how much money it would take to completely rebuild your property if it were destroyed beyond repair. It’s an important figure when taking out non-standard home insurance, as it will signify the correct level of cover you need to take out. This can prevent you from over- or under-insuring your home.
Non-standard homes are usually more expensive to insure for two reasons. Either they’ll have a higher likelihood of a claim being made (for example, if your home is in a flood-risk area) or a higher risk of that claim being expensive (for example, if your home is a listed building).
A brick veneer is a single layer of brick covering an exterior wall of your property. The rest of the property will then be built from a different material, such as timber or steel.
There are a few ways you can assess whether your house has been built using brick or whether it just has a brick veneer facade: