When the price of everything is increasing, it’s not illogical to expect building insurance premiums to do the same. The insurance market is no stranger to hikes in prices and numerous factors cause prices to fluctuate over the years. When you’re the owner and sole decision maker for the insurance of a property, you feel a lot more in control. You begin to lose that control when you are a leaseholder as your share becomes part of the original contract for your lease. Furthermore, if you’re a resident who has either been nominated or has willingly volunteered to organise the insurance for your block of flats, the responsibility can be immense and the choices can be overwhelming.
There is help at hand…
That’s when companies like Deacon, specialist building insurance provider, can help you to make steps in the right direction. Organisations like these understand that insurance cover and price are two factors that are most important to you and, to save you time and stress, they can search through and compare the insurance offers from several reliable providers to find you the best cover. With quality information to hand and valuable support behind you, the responsibility of insuring the most valuable asset of both you and your fellow leaseholders becomes a much less daunting task.
What is block insurance?
Instead of insuring a single dwelling, you can choose to opt for “block insurance”. Since blocks of flats are considered commercial buildings, there are additional risks that need to be insured and different features that need to be covered within the policy. There are aspects of block insurance that would therefore differ from single dwelling insurance. As with all insurance however, the similarity is the need to shop around. Costs are undoubtedly going up but it’s still worth doing some extra research and finding a deal that will be best for you, your building and the other occupants.
What is making insurance premiums go up?
As previously mentioned, everything is going up so it’s natural to expect insurance prices to follow suit. There are various factors involved that are pushing up the prices of premiums. One of the big things at the moment is the construction materials shortage, combined with the simultaneous scarcity of labour. The existing crisis in regard to the materials shortage has been exacerbated by the extreme lack of building professionals in the UK. The shortage is so severe that there are now over 240,000 fewer workers within the construction industry compared to three years ago. With the recent supply chain crisis, the Building Sum Insured figure has taken the brunt of the hit. This figure is what ensures you are covered for any increases in cots over the years, including those caused by inflation. These increases have been considerable due to the issues previously mentioned. With expenses even higher and availability even lower than ever before, it’s understandable that the premiums to insure your property are higher than ever. Even small claims will be affected in proportion to these increases if you slowly become underinsured.
Keep an eye on your claims…
On the subject of claims, the number of these can have a big impact on your insurance premium. If you can find ways to reduce the number of claims made through insurance, you’ll make yourself a lot more appealing to insurance providers and lower the costs of your premium too. Damage by water is one of the most common reasons for making a claim through insurance but it also remains one of the easiest to deal with. Remind yourself and fellow occupants about the important of maintenance and you’ll save yourself a lot of stress, hassleand money on your insurance.
