Commercial building insurance is a money spinner for most insurers. There are hundreds of thousands of buildings, form offices, to shops to industrial units and every one is likely to have a policy somewhere. Over the years, insurers collect the premiums and usually only pay out when there is a bad storm or a bad winter.
So, this raises the question, why do people find it so difficult to get a block of flats insurance quote? The reason is that many insurers do not know whether to categorise as residential or commercial.
Commercial tends to mean you are earning some sort of fee or income. Residential, you live there yourself. So, where do you put flats? They need to be on one “block” or “umbrella” policy.
The best thing to do is to speak to a commercial insurance broker, as opposed to a household one.
You do need a specialist policy, for example that includes alternative accommodation (for flat owners) in the event of a loss.
Most policies can cover any number of flats as long as it is more than one. It is more sensible to get a single policy so there are no arguments between insurers, for example, about who is responsible for the roof in the event of a storm loss.