Insurance While Your Spanish Property Is Being Renovated

When you buy a property in Spain with a view to renovating it, the deed is signed in your name and you become the legal owner from day one, before any plaster has been removed. That means any accident, theft or damage on site during the works is, in the first instance, a risk that falls on you as owner, not only on the renovation company you have hired.

Relying solely on the renovation team's own cover is rarely enough. Spanish practice distinguishes between the contractor's public liability insurance, which protects against injury or damage to third parties, and the separate question of who insures the building, the materials and the structure itself while the work is under way — and that second question is usually down to the owner.

As the registered owner in Spain's Land Registry, you carry ultimate responsibility for what happens at the property from the moment you sign before the notary, including during any renovation that follows. If a neighbour's wall is damaged, a visitor trips over exposed wiring, or a fire starts because of faulty electrical works, claims are generally directed first at the owner, who may then try to recover the cost from the contractor if the contractor is at fault and properly insured.

This matters even when the renovation team is experienced, well organised and has worked on similar projects before. A contractor's own insurance is designed to protect that business and its employees; it is not automatically a substitute for cover on the building that you, not the renovation company, now own. Owners buying from the United Kingdom, who may be managing the project remotely, sometimes assume the builders' paperwork covers everything — it rarely does.

A properly run renovation business operating in Spain should carry public liability insurance, known locally as responsabilidad civil, which covers injury or damage caused to third parties as a direct result of the works, and its employees should be registered with the Spanish Social Security system, which provides accident cover for registered workers on site. Ask for written proof of both before signing any works contract, and check that the dates cover the full length of the project, including likely delays.

What this cover usually does not include is damage to, or theft from, the property itself: stolen tools and fittings, vandalism while the site is unattended overnight, or partial collapse of an existing structure unrelated to the current phase of work. For that, the owner typically needs separate property insurance, adapted to a building under renovation rather than a finished, occupied home, and this is worth arranging before the first wall comes down.

There is often a gap of some weeks between completing the purchase and the renovation team arriving on site, particularly when owners are coordinating everything from the United Kingdom by video call. During that period the property is still your responsibility as owner, and an empty, unrenovated building can be more exposed to break-ins or weather damage than an occupied home.

It is worth confirming cover from the day the deed is signed rather than from the day the builders start, and telling your insurer the property will stand empty for a period before and possibly during the works. Most Spanish insurers ask for this information up front, and cover arranged after an incident is of no use at all.

Before works start, it is worth working through a short list with your lawyer, insurer and renovation team, even if you are managing the project remotely and communicating in English rather than visiting the site in person.

None of this needs to be complicated, but each point is easier to check before the renovation begins than to argue about afterwards if something goes wrong on site.

Under our managed investment service, the property is bought in your own name and our own renovation team carries out the works; before building starts we check that the required liability cover and worker registrations are in place for that project, and we flag clearly if your own property insurance needs to be adjusted for the period of the renovation.

We do not pool investors' money and this is not a fund or a collective scheme: you own the property throughout, you pay agreed fees for the search, renovation and the eventual sale or rental, and results vary from one project to another — they can be lower than expected, and past projects do not predict what a future one will return.

Spain is a relatively short flight away from most UK airports, making regular visits to a Spanish property straightforward for owners based in Britain. Many British buyers are drawn to Spain for its climate, coastal lifestyle and established expatriate communities. One practical point to bear in mind is that Spanish inheritance law differs from UK rules, so it is worth taking specific advice on how it may affect the property and one's estate. Currency movements between sterling and the euro can also affect the overall cost of purchase and ongoing expenses.

Spain and the United Kingdom have a double taxation agreement in place, and a local tax adviser should confirm how rental income or gains from Spanish property must be declared and reported to HMRC.

As the United Kingdom is no longer an EU member state, British citizens may stay in Spain for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa, and must apply for a visa or residence permit for longer stays.

Since the United Kingdom uses the pound sterling (GBP) rather than the euro, buyers should factor in exchange-rate movements and currency conversion costs when paying for a property or transferring funds to Spain.