In 2010, we are finally seeing, what Norman Lamont would describe as, the green shoots of recovery.
Time is a great healer, rather than government intervention. One area of the market that is starting to pick up is property. Not in a huge way, but bit by bit. We have seen in, January and February 2010 more commercial building insurance enquiries, for new purchase property, than we saw in the last third of 2009. Spring is traditionally the time for home sales, whereas commercial used to be steady throughout the year.
If you are buying a commercial property, then you are either doing this to rent out, to develop or to occupy yourself. If you are looking to rent, you need to ensure that you not only cover the structure itself, but that you have loss of rental income cover.
This does not mean cover if the tenant defaults, what it covers is if there is a fire, or a flood and your tenant moves out, you receive the equivalent rent from the commercial insurance company until such time as it is let again.
Make no mistake though, in the event of a serious fire your building could take years to get rebuild. Modern industrial units are quicker, due to the natue of materials. Whereas, older established buildings, such as hotels or restaurants will need time.
So, you need to make sure that not only do you have the correct building sum insured, but that you have an adequate loss of rent. As an absolute minimum, you will need 12 months, for many properties though, 18, 24 or 36 months would be more suitable.