Will this affect my insurance?

jlemaitre

We live in a coach house above 4 garages. We use one of them and 3 of our neighbours use the others. We have them covered via our buildings insurance as we are the lease holders to the entire building. We don't claim any money from our neighbours towards our insurance.

The problem we have is with one of our neighbours. Our garage was the only one sold with an electrical supply however one of our neighbours has installed electricity into his garage. I don't have the lease to hand but my OH (who bought the property) believes that any installation has to be run by us (which it wasn't).

I am now concerned that if there is a fire in his garage (due to the electric supply) that our insurance won't cover any damage to our property. Would this be the case?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Argghhh

i suggest you get hold of the lease to check as noone can advise until they know what the lease does or doesnt say

jlemaitre

I will get the OH to get up in the attic and get it!

G_M

jlemaitre wrote: »

We live in a coach house above 4 garages. We use one of them and 3 of our neighbours use the others. We have them covered via our buildings insurance as we are the lease holders to the entire building.
??? Are you the freeholder?

We don't claim any money from our neighbours towards our insurance.
I would imagine you should be claiming this off each leaseholder. Read their leases to find out!

The problem we have is with one of our neighbours. Our garage was the only one sold with an electrical supply however one of our neighbours has installed electricity into his garage. I don't have the lease to hand but my OH (who bought the property) believes that any installation has to be run by us (which it wasn't).
Read the leases to find out.

I am now concerned that if there is a fire in his garage (due to the electric supply) that our insurance won't cover any damage to our property. Would this be the case?
Depends if the supply is authorised.
Depends if the supply was installed to correct standards, by a qualified person, and whether Building regulations certification was obtained.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

If you are, indeed, freeholders, it is time you started acting like.... well, .... freeholders!

jlemaitre

We are the freeholders.

My OH says he wasn't informed that he had to collect money when he bought the property (he needs details explained simply). We aren't too bothered in collecting a few quid every year and would rather keep on good terms with our neighbours.

jlemaitre

We have now read the lease. It says they have to keep the garage in good condition and not damage any pipes, cables etc or any party walls but nothing about installing electrics.

Shelly1986

Can you not just say to them 'hi, we're worried about insurance and because we live above the garages, we're worried about our home maybe being damaged by fire. Was the electric installed by professionals?'

Actually, who pays for this electric? Does he have his own meter?

G_M

Shelly1986 wrote: »

Can you not just say to them 'hi, we're worried about insurance and because we live above the garages, we're worried about our home maybe being damaged by fire. Was the electric installed by professionals?'

Actually, who pays for this electric? Does he have his own meter?

Do it in writing. A formal letter requesting a copy of the Building Regs certificate.

Does the lease not specify that freeholder consent is required for structural/significant changes...?

Rambosmum

And yeah, who pays for this electric?

dacouch

Do you have a normal house hold insurance eg from a standard Home Insurance provider designed for a private home or do you have a property owners building policy?

If you have the former and have not fully explained the situation about the other garages then you may find you're not covered properly irrespective of the electricity issue