Not since the days of Jack and Rose have they been so popular. These icebergs are very different to that hit by the Titanic in 1912 obviously but they have been in the news of late.
Icebergs are the name given to multi-storey basements common in London as homeowners look at increasing their living space rather than moving.
While these projects are becoming more common they do create major issues for the insurance industry. Technically these builds are challenging as they involve significant structural changes. The recent collapse of a property in Barnes shows the devastation they can cause
The critical consideration for any insurer is that plans have been drawn up by an architect with professional indemnity cover in place and that a competent contractor is used with ideally both public liability and contract works insurances in force. If the insurer is happy to cover the risk they want all professionals involved in the build to have the correct insurances to allow them to subrogate the claim if an incident is caused by them.
You will need to make your current insurer aware you are adding a basement. The likelihood is that they will want to come off cover especially if you are moving out during the build.
You should then source a specialist in covering a property while under construction such as ProAktive. You can contact us on 01302 346831 for further advice or visit www.selfbuildonline.co.uk for a quotation.