Building insurance for share-of-freehold property ...

[eloease]

DC is buying a share-of-freehold flat. There are 8 flats in the building. Six are let out, but his and one other are owner-occupied. The building insurance is shared evenly by all of the flat owners. It includes cover for loss of rental income, which presumably pushes up the cost. I'm curious - is it usual for rental-income cover to be shared equally by all freeholders?

For further context, the property has had s couple of past claims on its insurance, and the insurance cost seems relatively high.

I don't think that sounds usual at all. The landlords of the flats that are rented out need to arrange separate Landlords insurance which includes cover for loss of rental income.

Why should your DS pay a premium for loss of rent when it doesn't affect him. Even if it's included in the premium relatively cheaply the future premiums will go up if the insurance company has to pay out on loss of rent.

It is pretty usual in my experience. We have a share of freehold flat and we have to arrange specialist freeholder buildings insurance for the whole building, the rental cover has been standard on every quote I’ve had.

I agree, it’s thrown in as standard. Who is speaking to the broker or underwriter? They can see how much it’s impacting cost. Likewise ask the landlord owners if they have other cover which is likely as landlord insurance covers additional things.

The bigger issue will be the claims - check what they were for and that the owners have all put in place things to rectify it. To reduce the price you need to reduce the risk.

And lastly check when they/broker shopped around as opposed to just renewing?