HMO property insurance is rated on what the conversion did to the house, not on the fact that it is let. A three bedroom family home turned into a six room shared house has more kitchens or a bigger one, more electrical load, more locks, different fire doors and a different escape route. Each of those changes the exposure, and an insurer quoting on the original house is quoting on a building that no longer exists.
What the conversion changes physically
Room counts and the loss of a reception room to a bedroom. Fire doors, often to every room, with self closers. Interlinked alarms and sometimes emergency lighting. Extra locks, including to individual rooms. Additional bathrooms and the plumbing to serve them. Sometimes a second kitchen. Each one is both a licensing requirement and something the insurer will ask about, and having them is what makes the property insurable on reasonable terms.
Fire compartmentation and why insurers ask about it
The point of the fire doors and the protected escape route is that a fire starting in one room does not take the whole house and the people in it. That is also the difference between a claim and a catastrophe from the insurer's point of view. A property with a current fire risk assessment and compliant compartmentation prices very differently from one where the works were never done.
Sums insured after a conversion
Reinstating a licensed HMO means rebuilding it as a licensed HMO: the fire doors, the alarms, the additional bathrooms and the compartmentation all have to be rebuilt too. The rebuild figure for a converted property is therefore higher than for the house it used to be, and a sum insured carried over from before the conversion is an underinsurance waiting to be discovered.
Telling the insurer at the right moment
Before the conversion, because major works usually need agreement. During, because the building is exposed differently while the work is done. And after, because the property that comes out is not the property that went in. Landlords who convert quietly and tell the insurer at the next renewal have a gap in the middle that nobody priced.
Questions people ask about hmo property insurance
Does an HMO conversion change my insurance?
Substantially. The building itself is different: more rooms, fire doors, alarms, extra bathrooms. Tell the insurer before, during and after the works.
Does the rebuild cost go up after conversion?
Yes, because reinstating a licensed HMO means rebuilding the fire precautions and the additional amenities too. A pre conversion sum insured usually underinsures it.
What fire precautions will an insurer expect?
Broadly what the licence and the fire risk assessment require: interlinked alarms, fire doors, protected escape routes and emergency lighting where appropriate, all maintained.
Can I insure an HMO that is not yet licensed?
Say where the application stands. An unlicensed property that requires a licence is both an offence and very hard to place on normal terms.