Can leaseholders have separate buildings insurance?

finchy_2020

Hi all,
We are selling our ground floor flat (leasehold with share of freehold with the flat upstairs) and we have our own home / buildings and contents insurance - it's a combined insurance because I have a lot of high end camera equipment which raised the premium by quite a lot - so the other freeholder didn't want to go halves so he organised his own buildings insurance - is this a common and 'ok' procedure? Our buyers solicitor has made it clear that it's completely unacceptable but we are unsure on what to do in this case? Surely if we both have buildings insurance then we're both covered so it's not a problem?
Feel free to tell me otherwise though, I'm new to all this.

Sandtree

Who's insurance is covering the roof? Or the foundations? Or any other common areas? Who's insurance responds if the postie trips on a loose flagstone on your path to the front door and breaks his arm? If a crack appears in the upstairs flat and they think its subsidence but yours say there isnt any problems in your flat so no claim what happens?

The buildings insurance needs to be an appropriate policy to cover a block of flats, some Landlords policies do (but many don't) and there are specialist block policies for these scenarios. You then individually arrange contents insurance for your own belongings.

finchy_2020

Sandtree said:

Who's insurance is covering the roof? Or the foundations? Or any other common areas? Who's insurance responds if the postie trips on a loose flagstone on your path to the front door and breaks his arm? If a crack appears in the upstairs flat and they think its subsidence but yours say there isnt any problems in your flat so no claim what happens?

The buildings insurance needs to be an appropriate policy to cover a block of flats, some Landlords policies do (but many don't) and there are specialist block policies for these scenarios. You then individually arrange contents insurance for your own belongings.

Our insurance covers all of that. The other freeholder rents the flat out so he has his own landlords insurance.

FlameCloud

Are your own insurers aware that they are only insuring the one flat in a block?

davidmcn

finchy_2020 said:

we have our own home / buildings and contents insurance - it's a combined insurance because I have a lot of high end camera equipment which raised the premium by quite a lot

Are you saying your camera equipment raised the cost of the buildings insurance?

Sandtree

finchy_2020 said:

Sandtree said:

Who's insurance is covering the roof? Or the foundations? Or any other common areas? Who's insurance responds if the postie trips on a loose flagstone on your path to the front door and breaks his arm? If a crack appears in the upstairs flat and they think its subsidence but yours say there isnt any problems in your flat so no claim what happens?

The buildings insurance needs to be an appropriate policy to cover a block of flats, some Landlords policies do (but many don't) and there are specialist block policies for these scenarios. You then individually arrange contents insurance for your own belongings.

Our insurance covers all of that. The other freeholder rents the flat out so he has his own landlords insurance.

Your missing the point... you dont have a "our insurance" you have two individual policies... for one most home insurance explicitly states its void if there is another policy so if you think you are both insuring the roof then you've a problem.

eddddy

As flamecloud says, are your insurers aware that you are insuring just one flat?

What do the leases say about insurance?

Sometimes, leases do explicitly require each leaseholder to insure their own flat. But in those circumstances, the lease typically specifies that the top floor flat includes the roof, the ground floor flat includes the foundations etc.

But more often, the lease requires the freeholder(s) to insure the whole block. That's generally simpler and safer. You need specialist 'block of flats' insurance. It's not something that's generally available to purchase online.

(As joint freeholders you have the freedom to take out a single insurance policy for the whole block, even if the leases say otherwise. Taking out a single policy is often better.)