Can I organise buildings insurance for a share of freehold property or does this require a specialis

1122abc

I purchased a share of freehold flat in Feb 2021. There are two flats in the property. I'm one of two freehold owners.

When I purchased the flat, I was told that the buildings insurance was arranged by a broker but I never understood why. I asked the broker and they said its because they can give the best rates.

Can I arrange buildings insurance for the property as I would do for a normal house? If so, would I need to state that there are two properties in one building? Would this matter if it is the external building, roof, foundations etc that are insured rather than the inside of the property? Or am I totally wrong because buildings insurance does cover the inside of the property?

DullGreyGuy

Its arranged by a broker because the majority of insurance is, especially commercial insurance.

You can arrange insurance if you want and your shared freehold agreement allows you to but the insurance you need to buy is Block (of flats) Insurance and there are no direct insurers for this class of insurance so you have to go through an intermediary be that a tied agent (or MGA) or broker. 

There are some specialist intermediaries for conversions and small number of units in a building but there is no guarantee that they will be priced better than a broker for block insurance that also cover 300 unit tower blocks. 

You cannot buy a consumer buildings policy for a property that has been divided into multiple units. 

propertyrental

What does your lease say?
* each flat owner to separately insure? Or
* freeholder to insure the entire building and each leaseholder to contribute to the cost?

If the former you might need a broker as you're insuring part of the  building only.
If the latter you'll probably need a broker as the building being insured comprises two properties.

But we can't see your lease.....

1122abc

propertyrental said:

What does your lease say?
* each flat owner to separately insure? Or
* freeholder to insure the entire building and each leaseholder to contribute to the cost?

If the former you might need a broker as you're insuring part of the  building only.
If the latter you'll probably need a broker as the building being insured comprises two properties.

But we can't see your lease.....

Yes it states the latter, we have a freehold company (us) that is responsible for paying for and arranging the insurance.

Thanks anyway, will stick with the broker I guess!

propertyrental

1122abc said:

propertyrental said:

What does your lease say?
* each flat owner to separately insure? Or
* freeholder to insure the entire building and each leaseholder to contribute to the cost?

If the former you might need a broker as you're insuring part of the  building only.
If the latter you'll probably need a broker as the building being insured comprises two properties.

But we can't see your lease.....

Yes it states the latter, we have a freehold company (us) that is responsible for paying for and arranging the insurance.

Thanks anyway, will stick with the broker I guess!

If you have the time and inclination there's no reason not to contact a couple of other brokers though!