Building insurance for a leasehold flat in a building above a coffee shop

LadyVK

Hi there !
I own a leasehold flat on a long lease in a two storey building comprising 2 flats (both owned by private owners) and a coffee shop on the ground floor ( owned by the freeholder and leased to a ltd company). The freehold has recently been acquired by a new landlord who insured the building as " a cafe with 2 residential flats" including cover for potential loss of rent on the cafe should any damage to the building occur. We were never consulted on the purchase of this insurance. The freeholder is now asking the 2 flat owners to each contribute to a 1/3 of the premium of this insurance which would amounts to over £100/ month for EACH flat . We feel that we should not be contributing equally to the cost of a commercial insurance which is biased towards protecting the freeholder's interest and therefore incurring significant costs to the residential flat owners. Any thoughts/suggestions on how to approach this situation ? Many thanks in advance.

G_M

Seems unfair.

Get advice from lease advice.

Richard_Webster

See what the lease says about what proportion of these costs you should be paying.

princeofpounds

The above advice is great, bit just to explain leases vary quite a bit in terms of rules on insurance. Some allow the freeholder a great deal of discretion which means they can do things like get a commission or buying expensive insurance you have to pay for, or the situation you face. But many/most leases imply a duty to find some measure of value. So you need to find out how your lease stands, and for that you need you lease and advice, either LEASE or a lawyer, but LEASE is good and govt funded so try them first.