Organising the buildings insurance for blocks of flats or apartments, often known as “block insurance” or “blocks of flats insurance”, is a big responsibility. We understand that, you may be the director of a Residential Management Company (RMC), Right to Manage Company (RTM), a leaseholder or simply a resident who has volunteered for the task. We have the specialist expertise to help you.
And should the worst happen, if you need to make a claim you’ll be supported by an adviser from our award-winning in-house claims team based here in the UK. Call us today and we’ll shape insurance to suit your individual needs.
Cover Benefits
Any property comprising of two or more flats or apartments is considered a ‘block’ for insurance purposes. And while every individual block of flats has its own unique set of risks, there is some cover you should expect to find in a standard policy:
- Buildings including accidental damage, water damage, fire, theft, flood and storm
- Inflation protection of up to 50%. We use recognised independent price indices to amend your sums insured to reflect inflation, so you don’t have to
- Trace and access of leaks in service pipes
- Communal contents including fitted carpets
- Alternative accommodation or loss of rent
- Outbuildings, such as garages, and communal gardens and grounds
- One excess per incident so if damage affects several flats you are liable for only one excess per total claim
- Replacement keys including keys to communal entrances
- Employers liability to cover anyone working in communal areas
- Third party liability up to £10 million
Insuring a block of flats or apartments is very different from insuring a single dwelling. For a start, they are considered commercial premises for insurance purposes and additional risks need to be insured that are not required for a traditional house.
Blocks of flats and apartments – known as ‘blocks’ in insurance – come in all shapes and sizes of standard and non-standard construction, including listed buildings. No block is too small, too large, or too complicated for us to consider.
We have full underwriting authority from our insurers, including Zurich, XL Catlin, Covea, NIG and LV, which means unlike many brokers we are empowered to make underwriting decisions.
We issue your insurance documents and handle your claims to provide a fast, efficient and seamless service. Supplemented by a choice of additional covers, we will ensure your insurance is shaped to suit your individual needs.
Key features of our Blocks of Flats policy
The policy will provide you with cover against the following which can be particularly important for blocks of flats*:
- Damage to the building by a wide range of perils including accidental damage.
- Automatic cover on communal contents including gardening equipment and furniture.
- Protection against unpredictable inflation in building costs up to 50% of the initial replacement value.
- Variable policy excesses available to protect the resident management company or right to manage company funds from potentially un-budgeted costs.
- Employers’ liability cover for any staff you employ on a permanent or temporary basis.
- Variable limits for trace and access cover to discover the source of water leaks.
- Property Owners liability up to £10 million on any claim for injuries or damage you are liable for, including Corporate Manslaughter Defence Cost.
- Alternative accommodation costs or loss of rent included if the premises are uninhabitable due to insured damage.
- Buildings definition includes all outside areas such as outbuildings & garages, roads and paths.
- Cover for damage caused by falling trees and removing fallen trees.
Additional options to widen your cover:
- Terrorism – to cover loss or damage due to terrorist action, whether for political means or other extremist groups such as Animal Rights.
- Directors & Officers of resident management (RMC) and right to manage (RTM) companies – to protect you personally against the financial risk you face as a Director if you fail to undertake your duties to a satisfactory standard.
- Legal Expenses – to cover Legal Expenses incurred in a wide range of situations including Contract Disputes, Debt Recovery, Criminal Prosecution to name a few, and also includes a 24/7 legal advice helpline.
- Engineering Inspection & Insurance – to provide an independent inspection of your plant and equipment to check it is safe and serviceable, with the option to extend to include breakdown of the equipment.
Please see our separate information guide sheets for each of these giving more details of the cover and claims examples.
For a copy of our guide to Blocks of Flats Insurance, the cover provided under a standard policy* and examples of how the cover could benefit you, click here.
* For full terms and conditions please refer to the policy wording available on request. Insuring a block of flats, whether it’s just two in a conversion to more than 200 in a purpose built block, is different from insuring a single dwelling, such as a house. As a specialist broker we understand this and we will use our knowledge and experience to find you the most appropriate cover at a competitive price. As with all insurance policies, the policy is subject to limits, conditions and exclusions. For full terms and conditions please refer to the policy wording available on request. This document does not purport to be comprehensive or to give legal advice. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, Deacon cannot be held liable for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies contained within the document. Readers are always recommended to take further professional advice before making any decisions.
