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Guide to
Apartment Building Insurance
Introduction - Many Owners and managers of
residential blocks of flats are being advised to phone around to make sure that
they obtain the best apartment building insurance deal and the right cover to
suit their needs.
Apartment building Insurance is certainly a
specialist are of the market and many blocks simply do not bother to phone
around for quotes as the the sheer effort in obtaining alternative quotes , then
having to discuss all of the options with the other flat owners is very time
consuming.
Managers and owners are being advised however that unless they review apartment
building insurance arrangements on a regular basis, they could be failing in
their duty which may open them to a compensation claim from another
flat owner. Managing a block of flats can often be a thankless task
and sometimes the pitfalls seem to out way the rewards. One of the reasons for a
comprehensive overhaul, of your apartment building insurance arrangements is to
ascertain if Directors & Officers Liability Insurance is in place.
Any one managing a block should consider that the flat owners buy this policy to
protect the directors from claims from other flat owners. Any decisions made
about the running of the block or any delayed or failure to act can open a
director up to a claim for compensation. Directors and officers insurance for
residential blocks of flats is no longer an expensive insurance policy and
premiums can start from as low as £135.00 per annum for a £100,000 sum insured.
This seems a small price to pay especially when you consider that the premium
can be split by all the flats, not just those who are member of the flats
management committee.
It is anticipated that many owners or mangers of blocks of flats simply do not
have the correct insurance in place, which is why speaking to a professional
advisor who can ask the correct questions relating to each individual block can
help calculate the correct apartment building insurance needs.
Often the biggest delay in obtaining a block of flats quotation relates to the
supply of previous claims information . Any building insurance quotation for
flats is going to be based on the previous claims record and often managers do
not keep up to date details. This situation is made worse if individual flat
owners are allowed to make claims directly from the policy.
Management companies or owners that put in place a proper claims recording
system and specify rules that have to be adhered to when making claims are often
able to be obtain flats quotes much quicker as they have all the required
information to hand. Please remember that you insurance broker will only send
you your renewal notice 3 weeks prior to the renewal date and in this time, you
will have to collate all the required information for a quote and possibly meet
up to agree terms with the other flat owners.
If you are considering changing your insurance policy and are obtaining
alternative quotes, make sure they are on a like for like basis. If you change
companies to save premium and subsequently find out that your new policy has a
very high excess, you will not be popular, especially from the flat owner that
want s to make a claim.
Buildings Insurance polices for blocks of flats do vary from insurer to insurer
and certainly larger blocks that employ staff such as porters, doorman,
gardeners & general handymen will need to make sure that employers liability
insurance is included as part of the blocks of flats insurance package. Also if
the property has a lift fitted, it will need to be inspected at regular
intervals. It is surprising that many owners and managers of blocks, do not
realise that they have a statutory obligation to have their lift inspected. This
service can be provided by an insurance company who can also provide additional
covers such as sudden & unforeseen damage & breakdown cover.
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