insurance broker dodgy service

clarebennett

We are a converted victorian house with 4 leasehold flats, with the freehold held in trust between all owners(4). One of the flats is owned but rented out for the last 15 years. We try to share the work of getting estimates and repairs between us and have a house insurance and maintenance fund that everyone pays into. Because I arranged for the buyimg of the freehold.The insurance company insisted on premiums coming from one account,I set up an account in my name but for residents that is exclusively used for payments for the house. This has been running for at least 28 years with no problems.

Our house insurance was  arranged by the owner of the rented flat some 10-15 years ago and at the time we changed it (two years ago) , ithad reached £5000 a year. I asked another owner to get a quote from another insurance company to compare the one I got from a seperate insurance broker ,they both came out at half the cost. I also found out that the landlord had incuded contents insurance(this as well as having a deposit for damages).I got in touch with Swinton insurance brokers- the brokers we were using and changed from Zurich to Allianz - the cheaper provider, we also had rebuilding costs revalued at the time. However when I got the paperwork from Swintons I found that the customer service person had put all our names as trading under the landlord's company. I only managed to get this removed when I went to Swintons complaints system and had it removed along with the customer service person. She had  also been obstructive about removing the untrue discription and about finding a cheaper deal several months before, the next annual premium was due. I was under the impression that insurance brokers were had a duty to find the best deal or give comparisons, I also believe that there was a financial advantage to the landlord of the flat to have expensive insurance ,I can only think of one reason; that he is claimimg for all the insurance amount(not a quarter) and probably all maintenance costs.
I have asked Swintons for the original document setting up the Zurich insurance but they are giving me the run around. They did however swiftly change our customer service person.

Any advice? 

DullGreyGuy

I dont think Swinton sell block insurance?

The normal arrangement would be that the freeholder would buy Block of Flats insurance (aka Block Insurance) which is a class of commercial property insurance. It can cover contents but that is limited to anything in the common parts of the building not anything in the individual units. 

As a type of commercial insurance they will be able to deal with sole traders, partnerships, trusts, companies etc without any problem. They will want payment from a single account but it's unlikely they will care if the name on the account matches the name of the insureds. 

It sounds like maybe you have been buying standard home insurance to cover the whole building which almost certainly would be voided at the point of a major claim as Home is to cover a single dwelling not a single building made up of 4 dwellings. 

Swinton's are a non-advisory broker, their duty is to present the options available based on the information provided and sufficient information for the buyer to decide if it's appropriate for their needs. They aren't obliged to rebroke the business each year but most will do so automatically. This is very different from an advisory broker who will make a recommendation to you based on your demands and needs.

You are equally free to shop around each year, though for commercial insurance like this it means ringing different brokers as its not the sort of business found on confused.com.

As to prior years, it sounds like you have been buying it under a single policyholder in which case for Data Protection reasons the broker would rightfully refuse to discuss those prior years where you are not named as the policyholder. This would be a matter between you and your co-freeholder.