Listed property and buildings insurance

george4064

Just wrote a long thread and lost it all, so will keep it concise here.

June 2021:

• Offer accepted on 4 bed terraced house, Grade II listed, located in SE.

July 2021:

• Lender carries out valuation fine and formally approves mortgage.
• I reach out to numerous chartered surveyors for prices, lead up times etc.
• I opt to go for Surveyor X. I ask X how much it would cost to value the property as part of the survey, they replied ‘If we have to carry out a formal valuation, this will add £200+VAT to your fee.’
• I declined that optional extra as we feel comfortable with the agreed sale price, and lender is happy too.
• Surveyor X carries out survey and sends us the report, no major issues but I was surprised to see it did not include the re-instatement value.
• Surveyor X states that re-instatement value is not included in the report, and that I declined to receive the re-instatement value figure done. Seems that the surveyor is implying that ‘a formal valuation’ includes a re-instatement value, that’s news to me and doesn’t sound right.

August 2021:

·         I asked Surveyor X to provide rebuild cost, he said this would normally cost but he will calculate as a goodwill gesture.

·         He replies with £190k which is clearly not right, stating that’s all he can do using the free rebuild calculator without a fee.

I have been recommended NFU Mutual for building insurance for listed buildings, however they insist of a RICS chartered surveyor’s re-instatement value within the last 2 years.

Current owner last had it calculated in 2016 with automatic increases for inflation/cost of materials since then, the current owner has told me he insures with Direct Line at the moment and he told me the latest re-instatement figure.

Direct Line are happy to use the re-instatement figure from the existing policy and do not require a more recent re-instatement value.

 

My issue now is:

·         Should I bother getting Surveyor X to calculate the re-instatement value for £200+VAT or find an insurer that will accept the figure I have from the current owner?

·         Any thoughts on NFU Mutual or Direct Line? Particularly for listed buildings?

 

Thanks in advance.

user1977

Have you asked your lender what reinstatement cover they think they require? 

AdrianC

NFU usually get good reviews from people with unusual properties and unusual insurance requirements.

Many insurers will include a generic reinstatement figure in their policies - no need for a valuation. But for a listed property, you definitely want to be looking at the specialist market, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they wanted more detail.

george4064

AdrianC said:

NFU usually get good reviews from people with unusual properties and unusual insurance requirements.

Many insurers will include a generic reinstatement figure in their policies - no need for a valuation. But for a listed property, you definitely want to be looking at the specialist market, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they wanted more detail.

Sorry if this is a silly question, but who is in the 'specialist market'? Is there a good list of insurers that genuinely specialise in listed properties?

From what I've read online, every insurer says they can insure listed properties.

george4064

user1977 said:

Have you asked your lender what reinstatement cover they think they require? 

No. All they have said in the mortgage offer is:

You must have appropriate buildings insurance for your property for the duration of this mortgage, and confirm to us that you have this cover in place in order to benefit from the lending conditions described in this document. You are

not obliged to buy this insurance from us. If you do not have buildings insurance you will be in breach of your

mortgage terms. This cost is not included in the APRC above.

slithy_tove

I would be tempted not to trust anyone who would even contemplate abusing the standard RICS spreadsheet for a listed building.  Surveyor X sounds a bit of a numpty, and If I really needed a proper rebuild cost would look elsewhere. If you can get a rebuild valuation-only inspection I can't imagine it would be much more than he was asking as a detailed survey is not required.

There are many mainstream insurers who will cover Grade II listed buildings (more so than II* and I). I have had success with an old-fashioned (human being-powered) broker; avoid the comparison websites as their cheap-as-chips policies may not cover  what you need.  FYI Intelligent Insurance, Homeprotect, Nationwide Building Society LloydWhite, BJP Insurance gave me competitive quotes for my Grade II earlier this year.

george4064

Thanks.

Does anyone have experience insuring listed properties with Direct Line?

youth_leader

I had a listed II and was insured with Direct Line, but only had to claim when my oil tank developed a hole/leak, nothing structural.