While timber framed houses are often beautiful, timber frame house insurance can seem an ugly process.

Thankfully with Emerald Life timber frame house insurance is simple. In fact, if you have a timber frame house built after 1980 there is no additional premium as a result of the non-standard construction.

Whenever your house was built, all you have to do is go through our fast online quote form.

We will probably need to refer properties built before 1800 to our underwriters for an extra layer of approval but we can do this once we have the full details of your property. Unfortunately we can’t cover thatched properties or those with asbestos.

In general though timber frame insurance does not pose many more significant issues than standard home insurance. Even if you have plaster panels of wattle and daub these are also situations we can cover.

Emerald Life provides cover for a number of non-standard construction materials. If you have specific issues or questions you can call us for further help.

We Care About Your Timber Frame House Insurance

At Emerald Life we pride ourselves on offering cover for a wide variety of special situations.

A lot of large insurers with the budget for big TV ads often don’t want to deal with special cases.

They are happy to cover the 95% as fast as possible.

If you’re not part of that 95% then it may sometimes seem like you face constant friction. Call centre staff may not have encountered your situation before and try to help as they refer you between other staff members, only for you to be told your cover is not possible or overpriced.

A specialist independent broker like Emerald Life can help. We are here for those who don’t fit in with big mechanised companies. We’ll work to get the right cover for you and are available by email or on the phone if you have questions or need other help.

What Is The Risk?

While home insurance is not a legal requirement you probably don’t want to go without cover. You have a significant amount of money invested in the fabric of your property so buildings cover is important in case something goes wrong.

Then there’s contents cover – which shouldn’t be much different for timber framed properties as long as your security is good. That means good quality locks that conform to modern standards and locks on all accessible windows. Even beautiful timber framed buildings are still at risk of burglary.

Property owner liability cover is also important in case your property damages someone or something, resulting in a lawsuit.

Timber frames are a popular choice for extensions and self-build homes. In fact, according to a 2017 market report, the number of timber frame self builds was almost equal to those built with masonry.

However, insurers still view them as being slightly higher risk – in particular to fire and flooding.

Wattle and Daub and Cob

Along with timber frame house insurance we can also provide insurance for wattle and daub houses and cob-constructed houses.

If you have a timber framed house then there’s a good chance the rest of the structure is also of non-standard materials.

Whether the material is plaster, wattle and daub, cob or other non-standard materials, let us know and we’ll try our best to give you a competitive quote.

Grade II & Grade II* – Scotland B & C

If your timber frame house is listed then there’s a good chance we can still provide you with cover.

At Emerald Life we can provide Grade II and Grade II* listed building insurance easily – or Grade B and Grade C in Scotland – through our online quote form.

On the other hand, if you have a Grade I listed building, or Grade A in Scotland, then we may be able to cover you once we have approval from our underwriters. In that case you can complete a quote online so we have your details and then contact us to sort the rest. There may be an additional premium and as well there may be some mores specific endorsements that we will need to include. Again, it’s Emerald’s tailored approach that many of the big insurers simply do not have the time and inclination to do.