Leasehold garage buildings insurance

littlesthobo79

Hello,
Would be hugely appreciative of some advice.

I own a freehold coach house which has two garages underneath - one is mine, the other is leasehold. 

I was originally living there but moved to live with my partner in another county and let the property out. Prior to me moving away, my neighbour who owns the leasehold was contributing towards the buildings insurance cost. Now that its necessary for me to have landlord's buildings insurance, what is a fair and reasonable deduction to make from this cost, given landlord insurance is more expensive?

My insurance company have unhelpfully said they can't break the cost down on the schedule to show the standard buildings insurance amount alone.

Thanks for any advice. 

DullGreyGuy

Are your current insurers aware that part of the building isn't part of your dwelling?

Are you the freeholder of the garage?

What does the lease say about insurance and the sharing of costs?

Most the time if you have the likes of a block of flats where a single building has multiple dwellings it normally has to have commercial property insurance on it which is even more expensive than Home or Landlords insurance. Hopefully the lease just says they pay x% in which case its just how things are that its now going up, its still cheaper than what commercial property would be. If the lease doesn't require them to pay anything it's down to goodwill and negotiation. 

BonaDea

I don't think it would be fair to the garage-owner to expect a higher contribution to the insurance cost because the whole policy is now more expensive due to you letting out your property.  The additional cost is as a result of a choice you made regarding your property that benefits only you.  The garage hasn't suddenly expanded in size or presents a greater risk.  So the additional expense is yours to soak up, in my view.  

lincroft1710

Agree with @BonaDea

BonaDea

@littlesthobo79 - out of interest, would you mind telling me who your insurer is?  Thanks in advance.

littlesthobo79

BonaDea said:

I don't think it would be fair to the garage-owner to expect a higher contribution to the insurance cost because the whole policy is now more expensive due to you letting out your property.  The additional cost is as a result of a choice you made regarding your property that benefits only you.  The garage hasn't suddenly expanded in size or presents a greater risk.  So the additional expense is yours to soak up, in my view.  

Hello, 
Thanks for your response. I didn't word my post clearly enough. 
I agree it's not fair to ask the garage owner to pay a larger contribution. This is why I was asking what is a fair and reasonable request (i.e. say buildings insurance premium is £199, contribution is 1/6 of this figure - £33.17 - should I deduct 20% from this figure to ensure the garage owner is not impacted by the more expensive premium. Hopefully this makes better sense.
Thanks

littlesthobo79

BonaDea said:

@littlesthobo79 - out of interest, would you mind telling me who your insurer is?  Thanks in advance.

Yes..Allianz - underwritten by Highway Insurance Co Ltd

littlesthobo79

DullGreyGuy said:

Are your current insurers aware that part of the building isn't part of your dwelling?

Are you the freeholder of the garage?

What does the lease say about insurance and the sharing of costs?

Most the time if you have the likes of a block of flats where a single building has multiple dwellings it normally has to have commercial property insurance on it which is even more expensive than Home or Landlords insurance. Hopefully the lease just says they pay x% in which case its just how things are that its now going up, its still cheaper than what commercial property would be. If the lease doesn't require them to pay anything it's down to goodwill and negotiation. 

Hello, 
Yes, it's specialist coach house insurance. More expensive than standard buildings insurance due to the legal liabilities of the leased garage.

I believe I'm the freeholder of the garage but need to check this!

The lease specifies the leaseholder of garage is to pay 1/6 of cost of buildings insurance, plus rent (there is a specific calculation linked to RPI which is reviewed every 10 years). 

Thanks for your response. 

BonaDea

littlesthobo79 said:

BonaDea said:

I don't think it would be fair to the garage-owner to expect a higher contribution to the insurance cost because the whole policy is now more expensive due to you letting out your property.  The additional cost is as a result of a choice you made regarding your property that benefits only you.  The garage hasn't suddenly expanded in size or presents a greater risk.  So the additional expense is yours to soak up, in my view.  

Hello, 
Thanks for your response. I didn't word my post clearly enough. 
I agree it's not fair to ask the garage owner to pay a larger contribution. This is why I was asking what is a fair and reasonable request (i.e. say buildings insurance premium is £199, contribution is 1/6 of this figure - £33.17 - should I deduct 20% from this figure to ensure the garage owner is not impacted by the more expensive premium. Hopefully this makes better sense.
Thanks

Did you have coach house insurance which covered the garage last year, before you moved away and let it out?  If so, in default of any better option, I'd use the price of that premium, uprated by the inflation rate as of the September immediately prior to the 'new' insurance policy, and charge him 1/6th.  (Or, find out what the average rise in home insurance premiums has been over the 12 months prior to the new policy starting - it may be significantly different to general inflation - and uprate it by that percentage, and charge him 1/6.)  That way he'd be paying a contribution that was coherently related to the annual cost of the policy excluding the 'landlord' element.  Others may have better suggestions!  

Freetofly

I have a freehold coach house and haven't been able to contact the lease holders to ask for their percentage of the building insurance (we have lived here for 1 year now). They both rent the houses associated with the garages. The lease only has the house addresses near the garages. Where can I look to find out where they live now, the tenants only know the estate agents?

loubel

You should start your own thread.

If your leaseholders haven't provided you with an up to date address then keep sending the invoices to them at the properties. Presumably their tenants will pass them on to their letting agents. Keep records of the letters sent.