Archive for the ‘commercial property insurance quote’ Category

Commercial property insurance – flat roofs

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Chances are that if you have a commercial property insurance policy in force, there will be a condition or warranty relating to any non-standard constructed roofs. If your property or properties have a normal pitched roof covered with slates or tiles, then this does not apply. However, if part or all of your roof is flat, then you need to exercise care as to what exactly is, or is not, covered by your policy.

Most policies will provide the usual  range of perils such as storm, flood, fire, theft, burst pipes etc. But, properties that have flat roofs are usually more susceptible to certain types of loss than a traditional roof.

Concrete roofs are not so bad. You do not see many of them nowadays (in new builds) but throughout the 70’s and 80’s this was a popular form of construction because it was quick and sturdy. What insurers are concerned about is flat roofs that can, over time, deteriorate in condition. We are particularly talking about felt or asphalt on top of timber. In the main, this type of construction was used on extensions as opposed to the whole roof on a new build. There are many properties though where the whole property is roofed with felt on timber.

If you are receiving rental income on the property, or you occupy the property yourself (for your trade) then you will have arranged a policy through a business insurance broker. 9 times out of 10, the policy will have been sold based on price. The cheaper the policy though, the more careful you need to look at the conditions and/or warranties.

For example, you may have a standard business insurance policy which has a nice, low, £100 excess. But, if you look carefully, any losses attributable to the flat roof may be subject to a significantly higher excess. £500 is the norm and this can rise to £750. This means that for every loss relating to the flat roof, you will pay a huge chunk of any claim, if not all of it. Also, the policy may state that you need to have the roof inspected every year, or bi-annually, by a competent contractor (ie not yourself) and any defects remedied.

This covers three points. Firstly, the increased excess may make the cheaper policy youhave bought not such a good deal. Secondly, the cost of getting a contractor even to look at a roof can be a few hundred pounds and thirdly, you will need to provide written evidence that you have had the roof inspected within the last twelve months. So you cannot get away from the additional costs.

All in all, it may seem like a good deal to get a cheaper premium, but as we always point out, the devil is in the detail.

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Commercial property insurance – temporary unoccupany

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

If you have a commercial building insurance policy in force, the premium and cover will be based on a number of factors. One of these is the type of occupancy. As you can imagine, a building that is occupied as a fish and chip shop or woodworker is going to present a higher risk of fire loss than an office.

Insurers will either charge a higher premium, to reflect the increased risk, or apply terms (such as having all dirt and grease removed from takeaway ducting every month).

When a tenant leaves a property there is usually going to be a gap between when one business is trading and the next one starts. This can either be whilst you are awaiting new tenants or whilst there is a shop re-fit undertaken. You could be faced with months and months when the building is empty, given the tough economic times. There are estimates that 15% of the existing Woolworths store premises are still empty, nearly two years after the companies demise.

Your policy wording, as with all business insurance, will have certain terms, conditions and excesses. One of the conditions will relate to what happens to the cover when a building is empty for 30 days or more. Usually, if aa building is empty, un-tenanted or vacant for more than a month, there are fairly onerous cover restrictions.

You will find that your glass, storm, burst pipes or theft cover is excluded. The reason is that insurers, from experience, suffer more losses on unoccupied properties than they do tenanted ones.

You need to check your policy wording to see what terms apply if your building is going to be empty for any length of time.

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Subsidence – make sure you have adequate cover.

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Since the terrible summer of 2007 and the floods across the country we have not had such dry weather. 2008 and 2009, whilst not so bad, were hardly the summers we remember from the past.

No-one will forget the Met Office announcing with great fanfare that 2009 was going to be a “barbecue summer”, only to state 5 months later that this was only a 60% prediction, which of course was wrong.

As a result of this, the business insurance companies, that insure buildings and properties, have seen a marked dip in claims for subsidence over the past four or five years.

We have had cracking weather in 2010 so far, a few blips of course, but the “phew what a scorcher” headlines have been justified. Whilst we have had a good summer, we have also had a very dry winter. A lot of snow of course, but this has not soaked through to the soil under our houses and businesses.

We are starting to see an increase in claims under business building insurance for cracks in the actual structure. The causes of subsidence are many, the main ones being a simple draining of soil, which results in shrinkage which cracks the structure and tree roots, in search of moisture, drying out surrounding soil.

With the advent of websites that “offer” to compare business insurance, as they are price driven, there is an increase in quotes being provided at a very basic level. What this means is that people are getting quotes without subsidence, because it can be 10 or 20% cheaper.

This will start to be a problem as people start to have claims and then realise that there is no cover in place. The first thing you should do is speak to a business insurance broker and get them to review all of your insurance requirements, one of them being the cover you have. Secondly, if you do not have subsidence, heave or landslip (the 3 main covers) either get this added to your policy or take out a new one with this, vital, cover.

Posted in block of flats insurance, business building insurance, business insurance, commercial building insurance, commercial insurance, commercial property insurance, commercial property insurance quote, commercial property owners insurance, compare business insurance | Comments Off

Commercial Building Insurance – Malicious Damage Cover

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Under a standard commercial building insurance policy, you will be provided with cover for a range of perils. The world peril means an event or cause, for example a fire, storm or flood. The policy will provide, in the event of a valid claim, a financial settlement or reinstatement of any damaged property if the structure of the building has been damaged.

Two of the perils that are usually covered are theft and malicious damage. Under theft cover, if someone breaks in and physically steals something from the tenants (or yourself if you occupy), they will in many cases cause more damage (in cost terms) going into or out of the building than the actual cost of the theft. It is therefore vital that you have this cover but also to make sure that not only theft, but attempted theft is covered. Again, people attempting to break in (ie through an expensive roller shutter) can cause a lot of damage.

In addition to the standard theft cover, you will also get cover for malicious damage. There is a fine line between malicious damage and attempted theft. For example, if a building has a window smashed by a thrown brick, and it is not witnessed, then how do we know if it was someone attempting to break in or just a malicious act.

The law defines what is theft, under the theft act 1968 and all it’s subsequent revisions. If you cannot prove it is theft (which some insurers may ask you to do) then it needs to fall under malicious damage.

When you are locking for a commercial property insurance quote, you will find that both these perils (theft and malicious damage) are covered as they go hand in hand. It is important to make sure though that they are covered with a normal or nominal excess.

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