Selling flat with high buildings insurance and no fire safety certificate

Fleurviolet

Is anyone able to offer advice on the following.

Own (with mortgage) a flat in a block where there has been 2 fires over recent years (not linked to my flat). Buildings insurance has since increased from a few hundred to several thousand (over 5k) per year and the building I'd currently without a fire safety certificate.
The building is part privately owned flats and part apart-hotel.

The insurance payments are unaffordable..what are my rights and options?

What are the option's for selling the flat, it's been suggested it's not possible to sell at the moment.

Slithery

Fleurviolet said:

What are the option's for selling the flat, it's been suggested it's not possible to sell at the moment.

Suggested by whom?

It's always possible to sell, you may just need to find a cash buyer.

eddddy

Fleurviolet said:

The insurance payments are unaffordable..what are my rights and options?

If you think that the cost of insurance is unreasonable, you can challenge it at a tribunal.

BUT... 'unreasonable' would probably mean that the the freeholder/management company could get insurance cover cheaper from a different insurer.

As a starting point, you could ask the freeholder/management company if they 'shopped around' for cheaper cover when they renewed.


But it may be that other insurers would be just as expensive, or refused to quote, because of the 2 recent fire related claims.

NameUnavailable

What's a fire safety certificate?

GDB2222

NameUnavailable said:

What's a fire safety certificate?

Probably EWS1.

george4064

GDB2222 said:

NameUnavailable said:

What's a fire safety certificate?

Probably EWS1.

It could relate to obtaining a fire safety certificate for the communal area(s), such as a shared entrance/hallway section.

It's a question all insurers will ask, however its not mandatory and many buildings converted into flats don't have them (and don't bother getting them).

user1977

george4064 said:

GDB2222 said:

NameUnavailable said:

What's a fire safety certificate?

Probably EWS1.

It could relate to obtaining a fire safety certificate for the communal area(s), such as a shared entrance/hallway section.

It's a question all insurers will ask, however its not mandatory and many buildings converted into flats don't have them (and don't bother getting them).

Isn't that a fire risk assessment, rather than a "safety certificate"?

[Deleted User]

Fleurviolet said:

Is anyone able to offer advice on the following.

Own (with mortgage) a flat in a block where there has been 2 fires over recent years (not linked to my flat). Buildings insurance has since increased from a few hundred to several thousand (over 5k) per year and the building I'd currently without a fire safety certificate.
The building is part privately owned flats and part apart-hotel.

The insurance payments are unaffordable..what are my rights and options?

What are the option's for selling the flat, it's been suggested it's not possible to sell at the moment.

I'm sure you could sell it, problem is it's worth £0 at the moment because it's a net cost to the buyer. Maybe someone willing to take a gamble on not having insurance and waiting for the fire safety stuff to be sorted out will give you something for it, but not much.

You could do the same. Risk no insurance and just hope that it gets sorted soon. Unfortunately there isn't much else you can do. There is potentially a legal claim against whoever is responsible for the fire safety problems, probably the builder, but if you can't afford the insurance then you probably can't afford a claim against them either. Assuming they even exist now, it's common for builders to set up a company per development and then wind it down when the project is finished.

eddddy

[Deleted User] said:

Maybe someone willing to take a gamble on not having insurance...

... Risk no insurance and just hope that it gets sorted soon. 

The property is a flat. If it's in England/Wales, it's almost certainly leasehold.

So it's likely that the freeholder arranges buildings insurance. The OP (or a future buyer) won't be able to opt-out of paying their share of the insurance premium to the freeholder.


Very occasionally, leasehold flat owners are responsible for arranging their own buildings insurance - but then they would be breaching the lease, if they didn't arrange insurance.