Freeholder building insurance -excessive?

HUMBUG

Hi All
I own outright 1 bedroom ground floor leasehold flat (900 years left) while the upstairs 2 bedroom flat is mortgaged by the freeholder (its a converted house). The building insurance is organised via a insurance broker and they levy a whopping £340 per year premium every year for each flat. I've tried asking the freeholder to shop around but I think she is too busy with other pressing personal issues to get a better deal (if there is one). The existing insurance also covers accidental damage if let out (the upstairs is let out). Do you think £680 is fair to cover the rebuilding cost of around £715k ? The property is in Harrow area. Just trying to confirm if there are other freehold insurers that could offer a competitive price.

dunstonh

Do you think £680 is fair to cover the rebuilding cost of around £715k ?

£340 per flat for a Harrow post code doesnt seem particularly heavy purely from a guesswork point of view of how I recall postcode ratings (although that was more HA4 and around). Have you made any enquiries to get quotes elsewhere to compare?

dacouch

Is it a fairly big property as a sum insured of £700k would suggest a large property and / or unusual features eg an old building and / or listed and / or flat roof

HUMBUG

The property was built in 1912 (not listed) . Has very high ceilings so yes its quite large. I used 'go compare' and apparently only one insurer would provide a quote because Harrow postcode was considered a subsidence risk (Hmmm!!!). Their quote was £2000 (ridiculous). I got a quote from Simple Landlord Insurance (unsure if thats the same as Freeholder Insurance) and got quote for about £685. Maybe the policies need to be customised to fit the terms of the lease and because they are non-standard , could be more expensive. Don't really know but it does seem quite expensive. For example, my father owns a similar sized property about a mile away and his building insurance is £285 per year . So I am paying £55 extra for a 1 bedroomed maisonette ???

HUMBUG

Hi All
I shopped around with other insurance brokers for like to like policy quotes and one quoted £715 . I emailed them saying their quote was considerably higher and 'hey presto' , they informed me that they suddenly negotiated a discount of £115 , so the premium is now £600. Just sort of shows how crafty the insurance business is when the day before they said they had negotiated their best settlement (obviously not!!!). Obviously, brokers make commision but I wish we had some sort of idea how much, to check that we are not getting vastly overcharged. I tried to get a quote direct from the insurer but they have my address on their database and realise that I am trying to find the 'true premium' value . So they deny me any quote that bypasses the current broker.