Insurance for empty church property

tootsie215

We have just purchased a church (25 years old) It has plans to convert to house and this is probably the route we will go down however in the short term we may want to use it for church or community use. Before any of this happens though we will need to do some improvement work and the property wil be empty for a couple of months, although there will be regular visits.

any advice on where we can get reasonably priced insurance on an empty property?

many thanks

Debt_Free_Chick

hhhmmmmmmm...... when you say "we" may want to use it for church or community use, what do you mean? Have you (individual or couple) bought the building?

If so, does it have planning approval for (continued) use as a church/community hall?

Any health & safety issues? Have you undertaken a risk assessment?

Are the improvements to get it up to church/community use standard, or residential improvements?

Sorry ... but I'm not clear about the current situation, the next stage and then the ultimate end-game.

tootsie215

Yes we (couple) have bought it and were initially undecided whether we would convert to dwelling as per existing planning approval or whether to continue using it for church events or community events. Either way there will be need of some work (kitchen, heating and decorating for public use, building work if it is going to residential)

We are leaning more to the reidential idea but may not be able to finance that for a few months so in the meantime it will be empty while public use would be a lot quicker and cheaper.

I now I sound a little vague but this is a new venture for us and wat to keep our options open if possible.

hope this helps.

PasturesNew

If it were me, I'd be thinking like this:
1) Church/community use: expensive, legislation, public liability, low/little income, no benefit
2) Residential: crack on before Planning Permission runs out, don't lose focus by doing [1] or might fanny about for 3-5-more years and be stuck with a decaying building and no planning permission left.

tootsie215

Yes, good point, so....... can anyone give me advice about who would be competitive (or cheap) to insure an empty building while work being carried out?

Debt_Free_Chick

PasturesNew wrote: »

If it were me, I'd be thinking like this:
1) Church/community use: expensive, legislation, public liability, low/little income, no benefit

That was where I was heading.

You don't say if you are expecting a commercial rent for church/community use - if so, forget it. Our Parish Council pays £14 to hire the Village Hall for the whole evening :eek:

You will have to comply with rafts of regulations - fire, health & safety, licensing, disability discrimination act - and, as PN says, you'll need endless insurance. I doubt the rent would cover the cost of the insurance alone.

Does the local community have a need for this use? Or is there an existing village hall or community centre as well? Quite often, there simply isn't sufficient demand to keep two buildings going.

Even if you gave use to the community for free, you'd still have to comply with all the regulations.

If you're determined to consider it further, your Local Community Council might have a shortlist of insurers. Or Google provides a list of a number of specialists (village hall insurance) - but you may not qualify if you are not a charity or local authority.

Sorry to be so dismal.

tootsie215

I know I keep on about this.... but do you know of a company that will insure it while empty and work (for the residential conversion) is carried out. (youve convinced me... I surrender)