Underpinned building - block of flats policy - broker/insurer suggestions please

XRS200

RetSol said:

Please keep the comments on topic. See the title of the thread. 

Try the BIBA website, find insurance, home and then there are options for subsidence and block of flats 

RetSol

XRS200 said:

RetSol said:

Please keep the comments on topic. See the title of the thread. 

Try the BIBA website, find insurance, home and then there are options for subsidence and block of flats 

Thank you, @XRS200. We have tried BIBA but have drawn a blank thus far. 

Annemos

I just did a quick Google search. I found these. But I don't know if they will be the answer. But worth a call? 

https://www.protectmylet.com/landlord-insurance/block-of-flats-insurance/

https://www.emberjd.com/useful-info/

https://www.arkwrightinsurance.co.uk/home-insurance/underpinned-property-insurance/

https://www.bickersinsurance.co.uk/our-product

RetSol

Annemos said:

I just did a quick Google search. I found these. But I don't know if they will be the answer. But worth a call? 

https://www.protectmylet.com/landlord-insurance/block-of-flats-insurance/

https://www.emberjd.com/useful-info/

https://www.arkwrightinsurance.co.uk/home-insurance/underpinned-property-insurance/

https://www.bickersinsurance.co.uk/our-product

Thank you, @Annemos.  That's very kind.

One of my fellow freeholders is dealing with this issue and I will pass these names on.

He has already contacted a number of brokers but none has been able to arrange subsidence cover. 

I am not able to be much help to him as I am in bed with a terrible throat infection and can't speak! 

Annemos

I hope you get well soon RetSol and also that the Insurance gets resolved. 

(Lots of people with colds around here. Must be the change in weather?)

DullGreyGuy

Good brokers in non-Life insurance for consumers and vSME businesses are like gold dust. Margins are thin and if you put the details in a computer and it doesn't bring an immediate answer most will call it quits. Brokers aren't typically tied to insurers and MGAs etc BUT there are processes etc to go through to sign up to others and again some just dont see a return in the investment in time (and obv anything based in call centres etc aren't going to be updating their IT systems for a single potential customer). There are also vast numbers of MGAs and other middlemen with delegated underwriting authority. 

Often it's about how your broker presents the risk, when you are operating outside of IT systems. Do they just call the enquiry line or do they know the Line U/W well? Do they simply say the property has had subsidence or point out it's been properly underpinned and stable for over 20 years etc etc?

If you get the insurance sorted, make sure you keep a record of the brokerage, the individual broker, who's name on the policy and potentially who the capacity providers are if its a middleman. All can help find cover next year

RetSol

Thank you, @DullGreyGuy, for giving me some more insight into the process.  What is an MGA ? 

Finding the right broker is precisely the problem. I have owned the flat for 25 years and finding a good broker always was challenging, even before the subsidence claim.

We were fortunate to have a good broker for 10 years until recently when they announced that they would not renew the policy this year. 

Annemos

https://www.mgaa.co.uk/about-us/what-is-an-mga/

I had to learn this from DGG when I was dropped from Insurance in the middle of my Subsidence Claim. In fact it happened twice! 

And the reason was, my policy in the year I had the claim was set up as follows:  

a     "Well known company acting for older folks" was the Seller of the Policy

b     That was being arranged through a Company "Arranger"

c    Who was arranging the Policy on behalf of a Managing General Agent Company  "MGA".....

d    ..... who was given delegated authority to underwrite for the "Primary Insurer" at the top of the chain. 

That chain kept collapsing on me....


The first time I lost my cover was when the "Arranger"   stopped providing any policies with the MGA, after the "Arranger" was sold to another Company.   In that instance, I managed to get one back again after a long stressful fight going after MGA, who still had policies with the Top Insurer, which were being handled by other brokers. 


The second time was the very next year and still in the middle of the Claim. I honestly could not believe it was all happening again. Utter nightmare again and so stressful. This time the MGA itself had been sold and was no longer Underwriting for the top Primary Insurer.  In that case I went after the Primary Insurer at the top and also through their brand new MGA, who I had found out about by researching all the Insurance News. (When the chap at the new MGA said they would cover me, I was in tears, I was so relieved. He remains to this day, one of the people I have been most grateful to in my life!) 

I dread it happening again one day. The Claim has now been closed for 2 years. 

Of course RetSol, when we as regular homeowners set up a policy (and mine was not a cheap policy) we have no idea about any of this going on within our policy. Thanks to DullGreyGuy, I was able to find out what was going on and fight my corner. 


Just to add.... my firm impression was that at the start, both MGA and Primary Insurer were quite adamant that they do NOT deal with the homeowners, because "we do not ever deal with homeowners directly". The MGA considered it all to have been delegated to the Arranger to deal with the homeowner. And the Primary Insurer considered it all to have been delegated to the MGA.

That was a whole part of my battle, to make them see that they had to deal with me. (I sent them multiple FOS cases!) So my impression was that their Delegated Authority System was actually allowing them to attempt to Delegate Responsibility. 


And if you are as interested as I am, I came across the FCA looking into all this:  Delegated authority: Outsourcing in the general insurance market June 2015. It highlights some of the concerns. 


https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/thematic-reviews/tr15-07.pdf

RetSol

Thank you, @Annemos, for enlightening me! 

DullGreyGuy

RetSol said:

Thank you, DullGreyGuy, for giving me some more insight into the process.  What is an MGA ? 

An MGA is a company with delegated underwriting authority from one or more insurance companies, it often has the authority to set the terms, price and which risks to accept without reference back to the insurers. Some will also have authority to manage claims and complaints. They can sell either directly to consumers or be distributed via brokers.

They can therefore appear to be an insurance company for all intents and purposes however everything is ultimately paid by the underling insurer(s) so it's their financial strength that matters. They similarly avoid certain regulatory activities as it's not their money on the line. 

Annemos' was insured by an MGA who had their capacity from Great Lakes which is a company owned by Munich Re, one of the largest reinsurers. They initially wanted to test the market for selling insurance in various countries so signed up MGAs in various countries which allowed them to do so without the cost of hiring staff, offices etc for claims, underwriting, servicing etc.

In the London Market they tend to be 12 month agreements, in the company world they can be longer, but still means they are relatively volatile over who's providing capacity to who. Munich Re seems to have changed its tack in the UK though as they setup Munich Re Digital Partners who are now the MGA and providing their services via the likes of John Lewis Home Insurance (though they've still outsourced administration to a third party)