Buildings insurance included in service charge. Would it cover letting?

Edtough

I am very near to completion on an investment flat that I intend to rent out. The service charge includes the building insurance, however I want to know if this insurance will cover letting the place?

I have been asking my solicitor this question for weeks now and frustratingly am still yet to get any confirmation.

Anyone with any experience of this? And if it turns out the insurance does not cover letting, how can I get around this?

Thanks

eddddy

Ask the seller (via your solicitor) for a copy of the freeholder's buildings insurance policy.

Then read it to see if there any exclusions etc, which would prevent you from letting.

Presumably, you've also checked that the lease allows letting.

Edtough

Thanks Eddddy,

I've read the lease twice and there is no mention of not allowing letting of the property.

As for the insurace policy schedule, I have a copy and the only mention of letting is:

"Unauthorised Occupants
The Insurer will indemnify the Insured for costs incurred with the Insurer's authorisation together with costs awarded against the Insured in a court of law actioned with the United Kingdom to regain possession of property following unathorised occupancy of any buildings insured other than by occupants named under a current lease or historic tenancy agreement"

Does the above in italics suggest letting is allowed?

G_M

It mght.

It might not.

If the lease prohibits letting it probobly won't (you've checked the lease?).

If the lease permits letting it probobly will (you've checked the lease?).

edit: if you havecopies of both the lease and the insurance policy, I'm not clear what more you want.

Edtough

I want the advice of those more experienced than me given the info above.

Edtough

Assuming the block building insurance does not cover letting, is it possible to top this up with Landlord insurance myself on top of the provided insurance? Or would there be some sort of conflic between the two?

marksoton

Edtough wrote: »

I want the advice of those more experienced than me given the info above.

Fair play. But have you considered the other responsibilities of an LL?

silvercar

The building insurance generally covers the building.

For a let property you would generally take out some contents cover (eg kitchen units/ appliances, carpets etc) which would come with the options for other insurances you may require eg uninhabitable property, legal indemnity etc

Edtough

marksoton wrote: »

Fair play. But have you considered the other responsibilities of an LL?

I've been a LL for a few years now, just never bought a place that had insurance included in the service charge; I've always sorted out the LL insurance myself.

silvercar

Edtough wrote: »

I've been a LL for a few years now, just never bought a place that had insurance included in the service charge; I've always sorted out the LL insurance myself.

I think you need to also sort out the insurance for this yourself. In order to get cover for legal stuff. Easiest way is to take out a small amount of landlord's content insurance which should have all the extras you need.

We looked into this when we had a minor incident (something fell to the ground) and wanted to make sure that we had cover if anyone sued the owner.

Freecall

If the lease permits you to sub-let then the landlord has effectively given consent for you to do so (either by actually giving consent on application or by not requiring it).

Your lease will almost certainly put an obligation on the landlord to insure the property and will be obliged to do so in accordance with the specific terms of the lease including the rights given to the tenant (you).

Therefore if you have consent (again either by actually giving consent on application or by not requiring it), you will have insurance.

When you buy the lease you will be entitled to a copy of the insurance policy to check that the landlord is complying with this requirement or as eddddy says, you could ask the seller for a copy now.