double insured on buildings

Ladybird20

I have recently found out that i have been doubly insured on my appartment/property which i have owned for 10yrs.It is in a block of 20 or so flats in a listed building.I was unaware that in my management money that i pay monthly that in this money covers building insurance.I had also taken out my own insurance unaware of this.I contacted the management company and they forwarded to me only recent documenation of this from the passed 3 yrs or so. On contacting my insurers who are now aviva they tell me they will reimburse me with half of what i have paid in to them over the past ten years to me on buildings cover if i can provide proof of cover.I have rang up one of the (management company insurers) of which i have no ref number and they cannot find the documetation because i do not have a poicy number to give them so they cannot trace it.
I am finding now i am being past to pillar to post and getting nowere. Whose responsibility is it to get or give me the required documents/imformation so i can get my monies owing to me?? thank you for any replies

zzzLazyDaisy

The management company's insurers are unlikely to provide this information to you anyway. This is because the management company have insurance for the whole building, not the individual flats. The flat owners then contribute a percentage towards the cost of insuring the whole building.

So you need to go back to the management company and ask them for written confirmation that buildings cover has been in place since you bought the flat in [date] and ask for a breakdown of the maintenance charges for each of the past 10 years. This will show the element that you have paid for buildings insurance as part of your maintenance charge.

The problem is, they will probably charge you an administration charge for this, and depending on how much money is involved, it may not be worth your while.

Fire_Fox

Is this a leasehold flat? It's normal for leasehold flats to be insured as a unit, was this not in your legal documentation when you purchased the lease? Aren't you receiving annual statements of expenditure from your managing agents? You should have been sent a copy of the buildings insurance certificate each year after renewal, are you certain that this was not done?

Sorry to sound like I am doubting you, but it's the solicitor's legal responsibility to confirm buildings cover as part of the purchase, the managing agents legal responsibility to supply you with a copy of the certificate each year BUT your responsibility to sort out the current mess if you haven't bothered to inspect or retain the documents supplied.

dacouch

You should claim back 50% of the Aviva premiums and 50% of the management co's premiuums back, send a copy of the previous insurance schedules to each and ask for a refund from each due to dual insurance

Ladybird20

Its leasehold and no i havnt had documentation of breakdowns or receiving annual statements so i am going to look into this tomoorow of WHY??? Fire fox i wouldnt say i am in a mess and neither would i say i cant be bothered...i havnt had anything hence my post on here.Funnily enough i knew i would get some digs off someone. I have posted because i simply do not know and in the past on here i have some brilliant advice from people but thanks for your input most of it was imformative to read.

Ladybird20

thast a good point dacouche ,,thanks for that i will give it a try....

zzzLazyDaisy

dacouch wrote: »

You should claim back 50% of the Aviva premiums and 50% of the management co's premiuums back, send a copy of the previous insurance schedules to each and ask for a refund from each due to dual insurance

Unfortunately this is not a simple case of dual insurance. It does sometimes happen that, by mistake, a person insures something twice - a car, house whatever. Often because they simply forget to stop the DD for the old insurance when they take out the new one. But this isn't a like-for-like situation. The management company insures the whole building, whereas OP has insured her own flat.

But I'm not surprised to hear that OP has never received a certificate - I lived in a flat for two years and never received the management accounts, insurance certificate or even a receipt for the ground rent. When I sold the flat I had to pay a £50 admin fee to get these documents - which should have been provided to me each year.

Ladybird20

so what certificate am i suppose to receive , after all i have owned this property from new 10yrs and received newt........

zzzLazyDaisy

Each year you should receive from the management company a statement showing how the funds raised from the maintenance charges have been allocated, a certificate confirming there is a buildings insurance in force for the property, and a receipt for your ground rent (the last is a separate charge from the maintenance charge)

Fire_Fox

Ladybird20 wrote: »

Its leasehold and no i havnt had documentation of breakdowns or receiving annual statements so i am going to look into this tomoorow of WHY??? Fire fox i wouldnt say i am in a mess and neither would i say i cant be bothered...i havnt had anything hence my post on here.Funnily enough i knew i would get some digs off someone. I have posted because i simply do not know and in the past on here i have some brilliant advice from people but thanks for your input most of it was imformative to read.

Don't assume someone is having a dig; note my use of the word "IF you haven't bothered ..." and "SORRY to sound like ...". I asked awkward questions to ascertain the position so I could give the correct advice. There are several possibilities as to why the current mess has arisen and one of those is that you have not kept proper records, in which case there would have been no point advising you to go in all guns blazing.

So it is a leasehold flat and you are not receiving annual statements of expenditure.
I also asked
"It's normal for leasehold flats to be insured as a unit, was this not in your legal documentation when you purchased the lease?
and
You should have been sent a copy of the buildings insurance certificate each year after renewal, are you certain that this was not done?"
Neither of which you have answered. I know an enormous amount about service charges and the responsibilities of managing agents and a little about conveyancing with regard to leasehold properties. These are key questions to establish if the solicitor or managing agents are at fault and hence you can claim against them.

hartanii

I have been reading your thread. Can I ask if you are talking about service charges? I might be on the wrong track?