Block of Flats Insurance is a specialist form of cover that is designed for landlords who own such properties. Given the type of buildings these are this is a very niche form of insurance meaning that finding a company that will provide a competitive quotation can be labour intensive - which is where our service comes in - taking the hard work out of your search.

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Block of flats insurance - an explanation

Block of Flats insurance is, in most cases, a policy that covers a number of different risks, and can cover both a single block of flats - containing anything from two flats upwards - to multiple builds with hundreds of apartments involved. If you own multiple buildings these can often be covered on one policy, with discounts being offered which increase the more properties you have.

The important factor is to ensure your insurance provider understands your property portfolio fully so they can assess the range of risks, and the premium suitable to cover your situation.

Cover is available both for commercial properties and for residential landlords

What is covered by Block of Flats Insurance?

When buying cover to insure your block of flats or apartments it is vitally important you understand the risks that are covered by your policy, and those that are not.

You clearly will want the bricks and mortar of your apartment block covered, but they are many other areas you will want to consider.

Some of those include damage from:

• Fires. floods, storms or subsidence.

• Water damage possibly from a frozen or broken pipe

• External damage caused, say by vandals or a car running into the property for instance

• Theft of material parts of the property.

Given the type of building you are insuring you will also want to ensure you cover shared areas of the block of flats such as the lobbies, halls, lifts and staircases

You can also protect external buildings such as garages, sheds and other outbuildings.

This is a major advantage of our service in that you are likely to talk to more than one insurer, and you will learn more about the options open to you as you discuss your needs.

It's really important though that you really delve in some dept into what different policies will cover, read the terms and conditions slowly and carefully, and make sure you read any policy exclusions.

What options can be added to my block of flats insurance?

As with any landlord insurance there are many add ons and options you can append to your block of flats cover.

You might want to consider the following areas

Contents insurance for Landlords - this covers your property in the common areas or parts of the building under your control - such as offices or maintenance rooms in a residential block or office equipment in a commercial building. If you do not have property in these areas you would not normally take contents insurance. This can either offer standard protection or extended cover which included accidental damage.

Liability insurance for Landlords – this is an important area as it covers legal fees should you be pursued by someone who feels they have a claim against you as property owner. This might be either a tenant or visitor to the property who has an accident or suffers any sort of loss and seeks compensation following an incident that occurred on your property. Maybe something was damaged by a lift door closing incorrectly, or a tenant fell down a flight of stairs where a stair rod had come away.

Landlords rent guarantee insurance – will pay out if one of your tenants stops paying the rent they owe you. A similar form of extra cover is loss of rent insurance which will cover a landlord should a tenants have to move out following a flood or fire, resulting in a loss of rental income. There is also cover for alternative accommodation - where, if your tenancy agreement dictates you have to, you as landlord have to pay your tenants compensation should the block of flats be inhabitable

Legal expense cover – covers legal fees if you are threatened with court action. This option can cover a range of risks such as the eviction of tenants or disputes with neighbours.

Unoccupied property insurance – this can be important if there is the potential for gaps between tenants and you have 'voids' where the property is empty.

Property emergency protection – in a multi tenanted building you may well want to protect yourself against untoward events such as water leaks, roof damage or electrical failure - which require immediate action.

Insurance for vandalism and malicious damage – will pay you for deliberate damage caused by other parties.

Employers’ liability insurance – a legal necessity if you employ anyone. Covers claims for compensation (and any resulting legal fees) by employees for injuries suffered at work.

Is blocks of flats insurance legally required?

No - although as mentioned above employee liability insurance is a must if you employ people. However, any landlord with a block of flats would be taking a huge risk if they are uninsured - as potential claims can run into millions of pounds. Your lender (if you have a mortgage) may well insist you have adequate cover too.

Does it make a difference if I am a freeholder or a leaseholder of the block of apartments?

If you are the freeholder of a building you are renting out you are likely to be responsible for all, or at least most of the above risks.

If you are a leaseholder your freeholder may for example, subject to your lease, be responsible for the building insurance. Check your lease carefully to understand what cover you require.

Why you must be accurate when talking to an insurer about your block of flats.

If you give false information - ie you say your block of flats if worth less that it really is you run the risk of being underinsured. If, when you make a claim the insurer discovers this they may reduce your claim on a pro rata basis. So if you submitted a claim for £10,000 but the building actually was worth twice as much as you said it was your claim could be reduced by half - as your premium will have been understated.

Some insurers will only cover certain types of business too - so if you tell your insurer that the property is purely residential, but there is a shop within it your claim could be rejected altogether - so whatever you do please be accurate in the information you share with your insurer.

What is the cost of block of flats insurance?

If you think about all the different types of blocks there are - and the differing values of properties across the country, you will understand that the only way to get an accurate price to access your particular situation.

As will as this the price will depend on how many extra options you want to add to the policies - as the more things you are covered for the higher the price.

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This content was last reviewed on 12/11/2024