Posts tagged "Specialist Insurance"

Does My Property Need Unoccupied Insurance?

Unoccupied properties require specialist insurance. You can’t insure them on a home or landlords insurance policy and hope that they pay out if a claim arises, as insurers view empty properties as a higher risk.

Why? Simply because there will be nobody around to deal with any problems. This is also the reason all unoccupied property insurance policies insist on a warranty where the building has to be inspected regularly. Usually this is at least once every 7 – 14 days, depending on who you are insured with. This can be a problem if you live some way away from the property, and you don’t know anyone local. In circumstances such as these, it is best to contact a local letting agent, who can inspect the property regularly on your behalf for a small monthly fee.

At this point it is probably worth mentioning that just about all empty house insurance policies also specify the heating system must be either drained completely, or kept on permanently at 13’C. This is to avoid pipes freezing in cold weather. Not only is it a sensible thing to do in it’s own right, but  insurance companies often take the view that a claim that could have been reasonably foreseen and easily avoided in the first place, is a claim they can reasonably turn down. In fact, during the recent cold weather snap where temperatures plunged as low as -10’C, this is precisely what happened, with many policy holders finding frozen pipe claims being declined on this basis.

With regard to charges, unoccupied buildings are rarely empty for exactly 12 months at a time, and frequently they are empty for much shorter periods than this. High cancellation fees could mean that a policy that initially appears to be cheapest might end up costing you significantly more than another policy with better cancellation terms. Often insurers offering empty property insurance require full payment up front, and many will keep at least half the premium upon early cancellation.

Alternatively, depending on what you are going to do with the property, many of the insurers that offer unoccupied property insurance policies, do also offer home insurance and residential let policies, so you may be able to simply swap from one policy type to another without penalty, so long as your policy stays with the same insurer.

Many vacant properties are empty because the owner has chosen to develop them, and this is often a stumbling block for insurers. How do you effectively insure a building that several strangers (i.e. builders and other contractors) may have unlimited access to? And how do you insure against damage when parts of that building may be under going quite serious alteration? The simple answer is to limit cover, usually to FLEEA cover, or variations of it, and exclude such cover as theft, escape of water, and damage caused by contractors who should have their own liability insurance anyway.

Is there anything else I can do to cover my property if I’m renovating it? Yes there is. As mentioned earlier, any contractors you use should have their own public liability insurance. It is common practice within the construction industry for corporate customers to request a copy of a builder’s liability insurance schedule, and this is becoming increasingly common among private customers, so don’t be afraid to ask for it. If they won’t provide one, use a different contractor. You never know, you might need to make a claim.

Having read this far, it should be obvious by now, that arranging insurance for an unoccupied property can be a bit of a minefield with so many issues to take into consideration, so it is best to take professional advice. Coversure Insurance are a broker who specialise in arranging unoccupied property insurance and all of the insurers they deal with are fully authorised and approved by the Financial Services Authority, so you can use them with confidence. Their staff are friendly and professional, so if you are just after advice to begin with, why not give them a call?

Listed Buildings Insurance in the UK: Getting Hold of, Taking Care of and Protecting a Famous Building

The concept of having ownership of a celebrated or listed building is really captivating to many people in the UK. On the other hand, there are a few key points to bear in mind if you happen to be thinking about investing in these types of one-of-a-kind features of our English legacy, not the least of which is listed buildings insurance.

Listed Buildings Insurance

 1. Listed buildings must be considered like a resource, even though a fixed one. These cherished historic assets need a different set of maintenance ability and, very often, specialist insurance to shield them adequately. Owners of listed buildings should think of themselves as custodians who’re upholding a considerable piece of our national heritage for generations still to come.

 2. Proprietors of listed buildings must be informed that if a review is due, for example, for a mortgage or insurance, numerous inspectors to not have ample knowledge with listed properties to carry out a accurate and proper survey. Gather this by speaking with the surveyor in advance. It’s also a great notion to acquire an additional opinion if there is any doubt.

Listed Buildings Insurance

 3. Unsanctioned adjustments to a listed building repeatedly turn up in local searches. An unofficial alteration is one that is completed without sanctioning of the officials who control the UK’s listed buildings, such as English Heritage. English heritage is a “private body hailing from central government, assigned to the regeneration and preservence of buildings deemed to have a very high historical value” Source: www.tuition.com.hk/geography/e.htm).

 4. In conditions where the acquirement of a listed building is contingent upon making a substantial alteration to the structure, it’s important to contact the District Council prior to buying it. It’s totally probable that the District Council may outlaw these changes, in particular in the scenario of new buildings within the setting of a listed building, which is particularly problematic.

 5. It could be tough to obtain the appropriate sort of insurance cover for listed buildings from common home insurance providers. These corporations do not recognise the superior points of insuring a listed building and regularly tend to under-insure the property building. Also, buildings constructed with distinctive supplies, for example, thatch, commonly have larger reconstruction costs than other, typical kinds of structures such as the types constructed with timber frames. In such cases, it would be more equitable to consult a professional listed building insurer.

Listed Buildings Insurance

 6. To acquire listed building designation, a building is judged according to official rules created by the Secretary of State. The more aged a building is, the more likely it is to be listed. A building also must have significant architectural and/or historic importance. Examples are the building’s style and decoration. Also, technical modernizations and also the building’s style are commonly looked at. In some cases, a building can have a substantial historic association as well as, a connotation that it is related in a particular way to publicly major occasions or persons. It’s crucial to not forget that all listed buildings are protected just as in conjunction with the law, despite their classification or rank.

 Listed buildings insurance is the very best way to obtain satisfactory safeguard for these historic public treasures in the UK.