Insurance Very High

[Mr Hanson]

I have requested details of an insurance cost of £1000 from the Freeholder ( this is for a teraaced house split into two flats)

He has just referred me to the broker without any advice direct from him- Am I justified in keeping back some of the service charge ???

Is it my job to approach the broker and ask why it is so high

Any ideas would be appreciated

Mr H

[schocca]

From your post, I assume this is regarding buildings insurance for a flat under leasehold? If so, read on...

It's not that simple re withholding service charges and this will cause you problems (don't forget that a building has to be insured if it is leasehold - mortgage agreements depend on this).

Here is what your building landlord should be doing:

1) Getting several quotes from reputable insurance companies

2) Taking the best quote.

He should have evidence that this has happened (to protect him from what I'm about to write about next).

What do you do? Follow these steps to see if you have a case:

1) Ring up a few insurance companies and get written quotes for insurance (don't forget to match his criteria re insurable amount + legal cover etc...)

2) If the quotes from reputable companies is significantly better, then you can do the next steps. If the quotes are close (i.e. 10-20%), then there is no point in pursing the claim.

Next step 2.1) contact your landlord with the evidence and threaten LVT (lease valuation tribunal)

Next step 3) Raise an LVT (which costs money) to challenge the insurance cost

Next step 4) wait

Next step 5) Go to LVT with your evidence and you should win + get the difference in the insurance quotes + LVT costs back to you. (no evidence = lose the LVT).

See here if you want details -> http://www.lease-advice.org/

- They have all the results from LVTs and there are examples where Building Insurance costs have been questioned (but evidence is a key factor in the success rate).

Alternatives -> Get all the owners in the house/block to agree to setup a company and do your own maintenance via an RTM company. This allows you to arrange the Insurance + manage the buildings maintenance going forward. You still need to send the Landlord a copy of the insurance cover every year (so that he can see that his responsibilities have been met).

The above website link will help you here.

Regards,

Simon.

[jam]

you should also check if any previous claims have been made this will push the premium up.