building insurance

sylvania_2

Hi
Does anybody know?

I own my property but i pay ground rent as the property is leasehold. My buildings insurance is linked to the leasehold company as it is stated in my deeds of the property.
Can you tell me has anyone heard that it is now possible to change insurers even though my deeds state i must stay with the insurance company specified by the leaseholder?
The reason is it would be cheaper for me to pay both home contents and building together.
Many thanks

Badger_Lady

Hia - I don't pretend to be an expert on this, but:

1) No - I don't think you can deviate from the lease. Presumably your property is a flat or otherwise shared building? The freeholder will likely have a single policy to cover all the leased properties, not least because it simplifies the claim process on buildings cover (if the whole thing burns down or subsides, it can be sorted out by the one insurer). To allow you to have your own seperate policy would complicate things for him.

2) It's not always cheaper to have a combined policy anyway - shop around for contents insurance, you might even be able to get it for "free" using cashback sites like www.quidco.com where you can get up to £120 cashback for taking out a policy that might only cost you £80!

sylvania_2

Hi
My property is a semi and i need to know if i am legally bound to only use the insurance company specified in the leasehold contract.
I know about "quidco" as i am a member of the company.
Many thanks for your time and information.

Badger_Lady

Hia - well, there's no harm in speaking to your Freeholder, particularly as a semi-detatched property is much easier to insure individually. Any change of insurer would have to be agreed with him/her.

blossom30

Hi, I've just bought an ex local authority 4 in the block flat and was "encouraged" to take out buildings and contents with my lender, however 3 weeks before I'm due to move in I find out there is a common buildings policy and the property manager or factor as it is called in Scotland has not even asked if I want this common policy but appears to be pushing me into taking it. The law is different in Scotland in that our properties are more freehold but some were dictated to by "feudal superiors" which has now been abolished since 2000 ,however a new law was introduced in 2004 as we have a lot of tenement properties in Scotland and this law was introduced to protect communal areas and common repairs. I have looked at the law and it is a bit ambiguous as it does not state anything about 4 in the block, it also states that all parties must agree to a common policy of which I have not been asked. I know the common policy may well work out cheaper however the factor involved is a local authority one that has had a lot of bad publicity for ripping off its customers and that's why I am a bit wary. I will speak to my solicitor about this as they have requested personal details under the guise of an insurance proposal form. I don't see why they are requesting such information as the policy will not be in our names. I am in a flat just now and have a common policy and the factor has never requested such information.......shrewdal

mattymoo

Not an expert on Scottish law and I have heard it is pretty complex in relation to tenemant blocks.
However, a freeholder would be daft to allow a tenant to provide their own insurance for his building. The cover on the building would be dependent on the tenant arranging cover and b) paying the premium.
So the usual method is freeholder buys policy and charges on to tenants in the service charge. No mark up is permitted and insurers will not collude in such underhand methods. Ask to see a copy of the policy schedule if you are concerned about overcharging.

blossom30

mattymoo wrote: »

Not an expert on Scottish law and I have heard it is pretty complex in relation to tenemant blocks.
However, a freeholder would be daft to allow a tenant to provide their own insurance for his building. The cover on the building would be dependent on the tenant arranging cover and b) paying the premium.
So the usual method is freeholder buys policy and charges on to tenants in the service charge. No mark up is permitted and insurers will not collude in such underhand methods. Ask to see a copy of the policy schedule if you are concerned about overcharging.

Hi mattymoo,thanks for your reply, I think you have misunderstood me. my husband and I are the freeholders of the property and the factor is the local authority. I have since checked with my solicitor and the previous owner of the property opted out of the common building policy and at this stage we will too as we already have a policy in place for the property.It will make sense to go with the common policy next year though as it simplifies matters should any problems arise. shrewdal