Self build insurance may cover new houses being built from scratch, or existing houses that are undergoing significant extension, renovation, or restoration.
Self build insurance gives you peace of mind during the construction process and will protect your investment until it can be covered by home insurance.
Table of Content
What is self build insurance?
Self build insurance, or course of construction insurance, is specialist insurance for houses or building projects that are at the site stage, or at any stage of the construction process up to completion.
Self build insurance is a type of specialist insurance which is tailored to the unique risks of your project and the specific form of construction that you are undertaking.
Typically, home insurance buildings cover is available only for completed houses and occupied homes, with strict criteria regarding occupation.
Furthermore, carrying out any kind of renovation or extension may invalidate your existing home insurance, so it is essential to either arrange cover with your existing insurer, or where this is not possible, to take out self build insurance.
Who needs self-build insurance?
If you are building your own house, or in some instances if you are significantly renovating, extending, or refurbishing your existing home you may need self build insurance. Self build insurance is a specific insurance policy that offers protection that is tailored to your build.
You will need to consider self build insurance if you are:
What does self build insurance cover?
Self build insurance is a completely different type of insurance to standard home insurance and covers risks that are not included in standard home insurance.
Self build insurance will typically offer financial protection for your site and your belongings on the site eg. plant, tools, and construction materials as well as the structure that is under construction.
Self build insurance will generally also include some form of public liability and employers liability cover.
Self build insurance or course of construction insurance may offer protection from fire, storm, lightning and explosion as well as theft and vandalism or malicious damage.
Employers liability cover for self build insurance
You may need some form of employers liability cover as part of your self build insurance. Do not assume that the tradespeople involved in your construction have their own insurance, they may not. Employers liability insurance protects you financially should a tradesperson working on site die, be injured, or have their property damaged by their work on your site.
Furthermore if you are taking on a self build project using direct labour, you are an employer and will need employers liability cover. It is also essential to have insurance that covers you for damage to your property whilst it is under construction, should the work of tradespeople employed cause damage to the structure.
It is also a condition of self build insurance that all tradespeople employed (even family members volunteering) have a valid safe pass.
Public Liability Insurance for self build projects
It is strongly advised to have public liability insurance in place, even if you are at the site stage and there is, as of yet, no construction underway. Public liability insurance protects you if a third party is injured or their property damaged on your site.
Public liability insurance is also essential while building work is being carried out in order to protect you should a third party be injured, or their property damaged by your building works.
Legal Expenses Cover
Legal expenses cover is also useful to have as part of a self build insurance policy, as it will protect you financially in the event of a claim, meaning that your legal expenses will be covered.
Another additional type of cover which is useful is personal accident cover, which offers financial protection should you have an accident on site which causes you injury or prevents you from completing work. This is even more important if you are doing a lot of the building work yourself.
Lenders may request details of self build or under construction insurance as a condition of finance.
It is also important to consider your life insurance or mortgage protection while you are building, in the event that you die during the construction process, so that the project can be completed.
Are you legally required to have self build insurance?
There is no legal requirement to have self build insurance in Ireland. However it is strongly advised to have self build insurance due to the essential protection it offers. This type of insurance should be tailored to the specific work you are undertaking.
Self build insurance will protect you financially from the many things that can and do go wrong in building your own home and will give you peace of mind that your investment is protected.
How much is self build insurance?
The cost of self build insurance is unique to each individual project and depends on a number of factors from the type of building being constructed and the processes involved in its construction.
Some of the factors that may affect the price of self build are outlined here.
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Self Build Insurance Providers in Ireland
As self build insurance is a specialist product it may be provided by specialist insurance providers as well as some home insurers.
This may be on a case by case basis and may only be available to homeowners who have an existing home insurance policy. Here are some examples of home insurers who provide this type of cover.
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AXA
Axa offers course of construction insurance. This type of insurance covers loss or damage to the property under construction. It does not provide cover for theft, public liability, or liability to subcontractors,for direct labour, or for employees. This policy has an excess of €1,000.
Zurich
Zurich may offer home insurance cover for homeowners who already have home insurance with them, depending on the nature of work to be carried out. A key condition of continuing to offer home insurance cover is whether the homeowner remains living in the house. Zurich may offer fire only cover whilst renovations are carried out.
FBD
Fbd offers self build insurance provided you are building a home from scratch on a green site as building under construction insurance. FBD will also offer their home insurance customers continued cover while they extend or renovate their homes. They may limit cover to fire, lightning and explosion cover if the homeowner is living elsewhere, however.
Aviva
Aviva Aviva will offer fire cover self build insurance for building on a green field site. They may offer existing customers continued cover on a limited basis while renovating their homes. This may be limited to fire only cover.
FAQ’s
Learn more about new build insurance!
Building your own home is so rewarding, and if you can do at least some of the work yourself you will save money. However, things can and do go wrong during construction projects.
Self build insurance will give you peace of mind that your asset is protected while building is underway, taking some of the stress and hassle out of the project. Speak to us today or complete the online assessment to find the right insurance cover for your self build project.
