[Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK

[carolatkn at aol...]

A company by the name of Naturesave, Totnes, Devon are happy to insure straw bale houses, loadbearing or otherwise
best wishes
Carol






-----Original Message-----
From: Derek Roff <derek at unm...>
To: European strawbale building discussions <strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
Sent: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 14:56
Subject: Re: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK


I suppose the success of this approach would vary by the laws and 
raditions in various countries, but it seems very risky to me. 
nsurance companies investigate all big claims, and routinely deny 
overage to their clients, based on _their_ conclusions about whether 
he terms of the insurance agreement have been honored.  Calling a 
oadbearing strawbale building a "timber-frame" might convince a 
ompany to sell you an insurance policy, but that doesn't mean you 
ould actually have any insurance coverage, in the case of a fire or 
ther large insurance claim.
If the insurance company denies a claim, the owner must take legal 
ction to try and force them to pay.  That implies convincing a third 
fourth, fifth) party that the terms of the insurance policy have 
een followed.  I think that would be very tough, in the scenario 
hat Andrew describes.
It seems to me that this approach allows the home owner to pay 
nsurance premiums for no actual coverage.  Maybe some owners would 
e comfortable with this, if the presence of an insurance policy 
llows them to get a mortgage.  However, to pay insurance premiums 
or some number of years, when the insurance company is unlikely to 
ay a claim, seems imprudent to me.  Worse, both the insurance 
ompany and the company that issues the mortgage would seem to have 
olid ground for suing the homeowner for fraud, in the event that the 
ouse was lost, and the insurance company had been misled about the 
ature of construction.
Instead of endorsing Chug's enthusiastic slogan of "Bale on", there 
s a significant risk that insurance and mortgage companies will have 
 strong reaction of "Bale NO".
Derek
Derek Roff
anguage Learning Center
rtega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
niversity of New Mexico
lbuquerque, NM 87131-0001
05/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
nternet: derek at unm...

>
Chug,

o; as a description of load bearing method as insurance companies 
re nervous about straw as a load bearing building material.  This is 
ot actually that much of a stretch of the imagination as assuming 
ou are using a wooden base and wall plate with integral wooden posts 
or door  and window openings, then this timber is doing some 
tructural work.

egards
ndrew

__________________________________________________
rom: Chug <chug at strawbale-building....uk>
o: European strawbale building discussions 
strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
ent: Fri, 9 July, 2010 13:09:39
ubject: Re: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK
Andrew,
I take it you mean as a description for post and beam and not 
oadbearing as
ou wrote?
and Neale
 thought you were asking about experience in selling a SB house, but 
f
t's just a mortgage you are looking for Ecology BS as mentioned, and
irgin, and Triodos, but I don't think they will go up to 100%, 
lthough I
hink they could be persuaded.
bale on
hug
hug at strawbale-building....uk
ttp://www.strawbale-building.co.uk

---- Original Message -----
rom: "Andrew Wilkinson" <wilkospeak at yahoo....uk>
o: "European strawbale building discussions" 
strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
ent: Friday, July 09, 2010 12:25 PM
ubject: Re: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK

eale,
I am currently working on two newbuilds in Yorkshire.  Whilst I don't 
ave
ny
irect experience of Open Market sales, I am aware that a main 
inancier of
uch
ortgages would be the Ecology Building Society.  I am also aware 
hat in
he
ecent past , those seeking to insure their houses have referred to 
traw
ale
oad bearing houses as "timber frame with cellulose insulation" to 
vercome
nsurance company concerns.
regards
ndrew

________________________________
rom: Neale Brickwood <neale.brickwood at googlemail...>
o: Strawbale at amper....muni.cz
ent: Fri, 9 July, 2010 13:21:12
ubject: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK
Hi
I'm researching SB housing in the UK and am trying to find out if any
ave been built for sale on the open market and if so what the
urchasers experiences were in mortgaging the property and who the
enders were
If anyone can help it would be much appreciated
Regards
Neale
neale.brickwood at googlemail...
7798854867
www.ikonland.com
Ikon Land and New Homes Limited
he coach House
 hereford Road
outhsea
ortsmouth
O5 2DH
____________________________________________________
   European strawbale building discussion list
Send all messages to:
trawbale at amper....muni.cz
Archives, subscription options, etc:
ttp://amper.ped.muni.cz/mailman/listinfo/strawbale
___________________________________________________


___________________________________________________
   European strawbale building discussion list
Send all messages to:
trawbale at amper....muni.cz
Archives, subscription options, etc:
ttp://amper.ped.muni.cz/mailman/listinfo/strawbale
___________________________________________________


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://amper.ped.muni.cz/pipermail/strawbale/attachments/20100710/ef6ae90a/attachment-0001.html>