Non-standard Home Insurance

Many insurers categorise property with a flat roof of more than 25% of the total as non-standard, but this varies by insurer, as some might allow up to 50%.

This is because a flat roof poses a higher risk of water buildup and leaks, which can cause substantial damage inside the property.

Flat roofs are also vulnerable to extreme weather conditions such as heavy snowfall, high winds, and hail.

Unlike with a pitched roof, water and snow have nowhere to run off, creating a pool that adds weight and stress to the roof structure, increasing the risk of structural issues, wear and tear, and leaks.

Owners of property with a flat roof will also face higher maintenance requirements, which the insurer will impose in a range of policy conditions.  Typically, the following are applied, which also reinforce the importance of good maintenance:

• An age limit on roofing felt. Storm and flood damage to a felt roof often isn't covered if the felt hasn’t been replaced for a certain period; our policy covers felt up to 10 years old. Felt has a limited lifespan that affects how wind- and waterproof it is, so insurers expect it to be renewed before it fails rather than claimed for when it does. If your flat roof is felted, knowing its age and having evidence of when it was last recovered is important to ensure you have no issues at the claim stage. So keep receipts and evidence following roof replacement or inspection work.
• The home must be wind and weatherproof. A flat roof that has maintenance issues or hasn’t been replaced in line with the insurer's guidance could result in claims for storm and weather-related losses being declined.
• Roof Inspections: The insurer might also insist that the roof be inspected by a competent professional at least once every 5 years, but this can vary by insurer; some might require it more frequently. This will be explained to you prior to purchase.
• Keeping the property in good repair. Insurance policies require buildings to be maintained in good repair. At the claim stage, the full repair cost (less any excess) is payable only where the buildings were in good repair before the loss; otherwise, a deduction may be made, or the loss could be excluded. So, this shows why you should regularly check a flat roof for issues.
• No cover for wear and tear or gradual damage. Damage from wear and tear or any gradually operating cause is excluded. Slow water ingress through an ageing flat roof is a classic example: by the time the stain appears on the ceiling, the damage has usually been occurring for months, and gradual deterioration isn't an insured event.  Insurance policies are not designed as an alternative to property maintenance but rather for sudden, unforeseen events, so you must be proactive with maintenance to manage the risk.
• Rainwater drainage maintenance. Damage caused by water escaping from guttering, rainwater downpipes, roof valleys and gullies is excluded. Flat roofs depend heavily on their outlets and drainage routes, so your insurer requires that they are kept clear of leaves, moss and debris.
• No cover for poor workmanship or design. Damage arising from faulty or defective design, materials, workmanship or construction is excluded, whether you appoint a contractor or do the work yourself. This is why it is essential to appoint professional contractors and check they have a public liability insurance policy in place to cover injury or damage to you or your property.
• Notify the underwriter before significant works. Building works worth more than £5,000 must be notified to the underwriter at least 30 days before they start, and the insurer may amend the terms or the premium. A flat roof replacement can easily cross that threshold.

We can consider most types of flat roofs, including:

• Felt.
• Bitumen - made by mixing asphalt with a rubber-based compound.
• GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic), also known as a Fibreglass roof.
• Flat rubber roofing (often called an EPDM Roof – which stands for Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer).
• Green roofs.
• PVC roof.

Why not click ‘Get a Quote’ on this page to get a call with our underwriting partner, who will review cover from a panel of insurers and advise you on the best policy for your needs?

If your pitched roof isn’t made of tile (that can be clay or concrete) or slate, then you have a non-standard roof.  

This is becoming more common as builders and property owners seek to improve sustainability and energy efficiency.

Our underwriters can consider roofs made of:

• Metal – which is a modern, eco-friendly option that can be made of aluminium, steel, and zinc, and is becoming more common in the UK.
• Green Roofs – sometimes referred to as living roofs, are a growing trend in designer houses and are covered with vegetation to help insulation, absorb rainwater, reduce urban heat and reduce energy bills.
• Synthetic Roofing – such as composite tiles or synthetic slate. These should be declared to the underwriter as they aren’t your typical roofing material.

If your property has solar panels, provided they are permanently connected, they are covered under the buildings insurance section of the policy – but you must ensure the rebuild value you provided at the quote stage factors in their cost.

Insuring a house with a non-standard roof need not be confusing. 

Request a quote to get advice and let our underwriting partner review cover from a range of insurers and recommend a suitable insurance policy. 

Timber frame properties are common in historical or listed buildings, the type you see with the exposed wooden beams, and the frame can be centuries old, with repair work sympathetic to the original construction, which can make it costly to repair.

They are also common in modern construction, where the structure is made of wood and finished with a brick or rendered outer skin, which is common in self-builds and increasingly in new-build housing.  The timber frame might not be obvious to you, so it is worth checking.

Construction information is often found in a HomeBuyer Report or Building Survey, and sometimes in the mortgage valuation.  You may also be able to find out when checking the latest energy certificate on the .GOV website.

Insurers will treat a timber frame as non-standard due to the increased risk of fire and the durability issues associated with timber, such as rot, moisture condensation, and mould, which can affect the property's structural integrity and the level of maintenance required.

There are two common policy exclusions you need to consider if your property has a timber frame: rot and infestation, which are generally not covered by insurance. The buildings also need to be kept in good repair.

A timber frame needs to be declared to insurers, and if you don’t declare this, you might find you don’t have cover when it comes to making a claim.  It is easy to misdeclare a timber-frame property, particularly as many properties are brick-built.  Getting a quote for a timber frame property online can be tricky, as you’ll be presented with construction questions, and you must specifically look for timber frame in the wall construction list, which may not be an obvious thing to do.

For this reason, seeking advice is recommended when insuring a timber-framed property.  Don’t worry, click ‘Get a Quote’ on this page, and our underwriting partner will provide you with advice, review cover from a range of insurers and recommend a suitable policy. 

There are approximately 150,000 steel frame houses in the UK, built predominantly during the 1940s to 1960s.  Most were system-built to ease the post-war housing shortage, with BISF houses being the best-known example, using a steel skeleton to carry the building's weight, finished with a brick, render, or clad outer skin.

Steel frames are also used in modern construction, particularly light-gauge steel frames in newer homes and self-builds. These don't share the age-related issues of the post-war systems, but insurers will still usually treat them as non-standard construction.

From the street, a steel frame house can look identical to a brick-built one, so it is worth checking before you answer any insurer's questions.  Your property's construction information is often found in a HomeBuyer Report or Building Survey, and sometimes in the mortgage valuation.  You may also be able to find out when checking the latest energy certificate on the .GOV website.

Regardless of when the steel-framed property was built, the primary concern for insurers is the increased risk of corrosion it presents. 

The steel frame relies on its protective coatings, and if moisture reaches the steel through damp, failed render or condensation forming within the wall structure, it can corrode out of sight, compromising the property's structural integrity.

Older systems also predate modern insulation standards, and poorly planned insulation upgrades can trap moisture against the frame rather than keep it away.

When insuring a steel-frame house, you should consider the following policy conditions:

• Corrosion Risk: Damage that happens gradually over time is excluded, and corrosion is specifically named as an exclusion within the accidental damage cover of most property insurance policies.
• State of Repair: All insurance policies will require you to keep the property in good repair, so to protect the steel frame, you should regularly review the condition of the render, pointing and damp-proofing. If the property exterior is in a poor condition, this can affect your ability to claim.
• Damage caused by poor workmanship: Damage arising from faulty design or poor workmanship is typically excluded, so insulation or refurbishment work on a steel frame home needs to be properly specified and carried out; the insurer won't pick up the cost if the work itself causes the problem.

It is for this reason that we recommend you get advice when insuring a steel-framed property, but don’t worry, our underwriting partner can help you and recommend a suitable policy picked from a panel of insurers.   Just click ‘Get a Quote’ on this page to get started.

We can insure an old house built before 1900, whether it is of standard or non-standard construction.  An old house doesn’t automatically mean it is non-standard; what matters is how it was built, though the likelihood increases the older it is.  

Examples of features that make a property non-standard include stone, cob or timber-framed construction, and thatched roofs.

It is also important to get the property's age right during the quoting stage, as this will influence the underwriter's pricing approach and whether they will agree to insure.  Get it wrong, and it could invalidate your cover.

If you don’t know the property's age, Insuristic has written a useful guide: How to find out when a house was built, which may help you.

Insuring an older property doesn’t need to be difficult; Click ‘Get a Quote’ on this page to arrange a call with our underwriting partner, who will provide you with advice, review cover from a panel of insurers, and then recommend a suitable policy.

Prefabricated houses and concrete houses are classed as non-standard construction. Many are steel- or timber-framed.

After World War II, hundreds of thousands of prefabricated homes were rapidly built to ease the housing crisis. These were typically either steel-framed, such as the BISF houses covered in the steel frame section above, or PRC (Pre-Cast Reinforced Concrete) homes.

PRC homes need particular care. Many PRC house types were designated defective under housing defects legislation in the 1980s, after structural problems were found in the concrete.

As a result, most mortgage lenders will not lend on a PRC home unless it has been repaired to an approved standard, and you need a PRC repair certificate as evidence. If you own or are buying one, that certificate matters to both your insurer and your lender.

Not all post-war-era concrete homes are prefab: some, such as Wimpey No-Fines and Laing Easiform houses, were cast in situ, with the concrete poured on site rather than made in a factory.

These were never designated defective, so there's no repair certificate to worry about, but insurers will still treat them as non-standard construction. This is partly because concrete doesn't show its problems the way brick does; moisture reaching the steel reinforcement inside can cause hidden deterioration that isn't visible until the damage is advanced, which is why insurers ask more questions and may want a survey.

But owning a prefab isn't restricted to the post-war period; many modern self-build and designer homes are prefabricated. The following are common:

• Modular homes – built entirely in a factory and shipped to site in units for assembly.
• Panelised and SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) homes – essentially flat-packed home systems, manufactured off-site and assembled at the build location.
• Timber frame kit homes – including German-engineered kit homes imported from Europe; timber frame is covered in its own section above.
• Shipping container homes – as it sounds, a house built from repurposed shipping containers.

The market for insuring these types of property is restrictive because they are often more expensive to repair and pose a higher risk of issues such as fire and subsidence.  Insurers may also require a property survey.

Click ‘Get a Quote’ on this page to arrange a call with our underwriters, who can provide advice, review cover from a panel of insurers and recommend a suitable policy for your needs.

We can help you arrange thatched-roof insurance, including for thatched cottages, listed thatched properties, and partially thatched homes.

The market for thatched-home insurance is among the most restrictive in UK property insurance, and this is one situation where advice is recommended.  

Insurers are mostly concerned about fire as it spreads with thatch quickly and can result in a total loss of the property.  Reinstating the roof is also very expensive, as rethatching is skilled, slow work carried out by accredited thatchers, so both the fire damage risk and the rebuild cost can be high, which is why most online insurers decline thatched properties altogether.

There will be specialist conditions in the policy such as:

• Chimneys and wood-burning stoves are a common cause of fire. To reduce the fire risk, insurers will require the chimney to be regularly swept to minimise build-up and wood-burning stoves to be serviced at regular intervals.
• Requiring the electrics to be regularly inspected by a qualified electrician (electrical faults are a common cause of fires – not just in thatched properties).
• The thatch is kept in good condition and often also inspected at set intervals by an accredited thatcher. This is because the top ridge of a thatch roof typically lasts only 10-15 years before being replaced, and towards the end of its life, it becomes more susceptible to storm damage and water ingress.
• Insurers may also ask whether the thatch has been treated with a fire retardant.

As fires can cause significant damage, it is also important that you do not underinsure the buildings, as this could result in a significant financial loss in the event of a claims shortfall.  It is recommended that you obtain a RICS rebuild valuation and have it updated regularly.

Tell us about your thatched property once, and our underwriting partner will provide advice, approach specialist insurers of thatched property, saving you time, before recommending a suitable policy to you.