Flexible cover for extension, renovation, and rebuild projects, protecting the existing structure, the works, and everyone on site. Quotes within 24 to 48 hours, often same-day.
If you can’t see what you are looking for we may still be able to find it for you – just give us a call.
What Is Renovation Insurance?
Renovation insurance is a flexible product providing a wide range of covers for an extension, renovation, or rebuild project. A standard home or commercial buildings policy is priced for a property in normal use; the moment scaffolding goes up, walls come down, or the building sits partly open to the weather, the risk changes completely, and most standard policies either exclude works outright or quietly stop covering the existing structure.
A well-arranged renovation policy fills that gap. It protects the existing building, the works as they progress, the materials and plant on site, and your liability to the public and to anyone working for you, so that a fire, flood, theft, or structural incident midway through a project does not turn an investment into a loss.
Think of it this way: your normal buildings insurance covers the property you have. Renovation insurance covers the property you have, the property you are creating, and the messy, exposed months in between.
Cover can be arranged for property owners, developers, and lenders, on both residential and commercial projects.
Do I Need Renovation Insurance?
If you are carrying out anything beyond decoration, it is worth checking your position before work starts, because the gaps catch people out in four ways:
- Your existing insurer may exclude the works. Many policies become restricted or void once structural work begins, and failing to notify your insurer can invalidate cover for the whole property, not just the project.
- Your builder’s insurance is not your insurance. A contractor’s public and employer’s liability cover protects claims where the builder is at fault. If materials are stolen overnight, a storm floods the exposed roof, or damage occurs with no negligence to pin on anyone, their policy owes you nothing.
- You may be employing people without realising it. Friends and family lending a hand, or casual labour paid cash in hand, can count as employees in the eyes of the law. If one of them is injured on site, you could be personally liable; employer’s liability cover within a renovation policy protects you.
- Lenders and funders often insist on it. Where a mortgage or development finance is in place, the lender will usually require adequate cover for the works as a condition of releasing funds.
None of this makes renovation insurance a legal requirement in every case. It makes it the difference between a setback and a disaster.
What Can a Renovation Insurance Policy Cover?
Renovation insurance is flexible, and the policy is built around the project. The range of covers available includes:
- The existing structure, where it is not otherwise insured, while the works are under way, including unoccupied properties, subject to unoccupancy conditions
- The contract works, meaning the fixed and unfixed materials appertaining to the project, covered as the build progresses
- Public liability, if a third party is injured or their property is damaged, with limits available from £1 million to £10 million
- Employer’s liability, where you engage labour directly, including casual or family help
- Hired-in plant, covering your liability for machinery and equipment hired for the project
- Own plant and equipment, protecting tools and machinery you own on site
- Non-negligence cover (JCT 6.5.1) for damage to neighbouring property where no one is at fault
- Residential and commercial projects of any size, with no minimum or maximum project value
- Flexible policy periods, normally from six months, with extensions available if the project overruns
Why Arrange Renovation Insurance Through Title Policies?
- Whole-of-market independence. We are tied to no insurer, so the recommendation follows the risk, not a commission structure.
- Genuinely flexible cover. The policy is built around the project, from the existing structure through to plant and liability, rather than a one-size template.
- Over 30 years of experience. Decades of arranging specialist property cover means the right policy, structured correctly, first time.
- Speed when it matters. Works rarely wait for paperwork. Quotes in 24 to 48 hours as standard, same-day where a start date or fund release is looming.
- Direct access for this cover. Unlike our indemnity products, renovation insurance enquiries can come straight from property owners, developers and lenders, as well as through your solicitor or conveyancer.
How It Works With Title Policies
We are an independent brokerage, not an insurer, and that matters more on renovation projects than almost anywhere else. Project risks vary enormously: a listed farmhouse restoration, a basement excavation, and a commercial unit refit all need different cover, and no single insurer prices all of them well. We search the market and match the project to the right underwriter.
The process is simple:
- Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer contacts us with the project details
- We provide a simple questionnaire for completion in order to secure terms for the project
- We review the risk and approach the most suitable insurers
- You receive a quote within 24 to 48 hours, often the same day for urgent cases
Because we deal exclusively with solicitors and licensed conveyancers, we slot naturally into a purchase or refinance where renovation is planned. If you are buying a property to renovate, this can be arranged alongside any title insurance your transaction needs, in one conversation through your legal adviser.
Renovation Projects and Hidden Title Risks
Renovations have a habit of surfacing the very issues we insure against every day. Extending a property can breach a restrictive covenant written into the title a century ago. Building upwards can interfere with a neighbour’s rights of light. Clearing a garden can disturb Japanese knotweed. And structural defects in completed works are the territory of latent defects insurance.
A renovation policy covers the build. These related policies cover what the build can trigger. Your solicitor can ask us to review the project as a whole, so nothing is left exposed.
If you are building from the ground up rather than renovating, see our self build insurance page instead.
Get Renovation Insurance Cover
We specialise in arranging fast, reliable renovation insurance for property professionals and homeowners working through solicitors or licensed conveyancers.
We do not deal directly with members of the public.
Please ask your solicitor or licensed conveyancer to contact us on your behalf to discuss suitable cover.
Popular Renovation Insurance FAQs
Usually not, or not fully. Standard policies are priced for a property in normal use, and most restrict or exclude cover once structural work begins. You must also notify your existing insurer before work starts; failing to do so can invalidate the policy entirely. Specialist renovation insurance is designed to cover exactly the period your standard policy steps back from.
No. Your builder’s liability insurance responds when the builder is legally at fault. Storm damage to an exposed structure, theft of materials, or an incident with no provable negligence all fall outside it. You need cover in your own name for the property and the works.
It is a flexible product, and the policy is built to fit the project. Cover can include the existing structure where it is not otherwise insured, the contract works (the fixed and unfixed materials on site), public liability, employer’s liability, hired-in plant, and your own plant and equipment.
It can. Anyone working under your direction, even unpaid or cash-in-hand help, may count as an employee for liability purposes. If they are injured on site you could be personally exposed, which is why employer’s liability cover is available as part of a renovation policy.
Yes, and this is one of the most common reasons to arrange it. Properties often sit empty during major works, and standard policies impose severe restrictions on unoccupied buildings, sometimes after as little as 30 days. Cover for unoccupied properties is available under a renovation policy, subject to unoccupancy conditions, which we will explain clearly at the quotation stage.
Quotes are typically provided within 24 to 48 hours of your solicitor or licensed conveyancer contacting us, and often the same day where a project start date or lender deadline is imminent. We provide a simple questionnaire to secure terms, so the process is straightforward.
Yes, and it is the ideal time. Your solicitor can ask us to quote for the renovation cover alongside any title indemnity policies the purchase itself requires, so the property is protected from completion day through to the end of the works.
Don’t let unexpected setbacks derail your home improvement plans.