Insurance and Claims

7 April 2024

If you think you need to claim property damage under building's policy, you need to inform the Management Company at once which will then place insurers on notice of a potential claim.  Insurance companies usually require the following information:

• Date when damage occurred
• Exact location of damage
• Cause of damage and confirmation that the cause of the water ingress has been resolved/repaired.

The lessee then needs to provide two independent estimates for the repair of the damage decorations etc and a completed claim form (click icon to download). If the lessee does not know of any suitable contractors, please ask the Building Manager who has details of local contractors who are familiar with the building.  The estimates will be in the name of the lessee making the claim, but will be submitted to the Management Company, who will then pass the estimates to the insurance brokers.  The insurance brokers will then make any comments on the work needed or authorise one of the contractors to go ahead with the repair/redecoration work.

Once the insurance company has given authorisation, the Management Company will notify the lessee who can then make direct arrangements with the contractor. Once the repair/redecoration work has been completed, the invoice (which should be in the name of the lessee) should be provided to the Management Company who will submit it to the insurance brokers for reimbursement of the costs, less any excess.  In the meantime, the lessee should make their own arrangements to pay the contractors directly.  Any payout from the insurance company will always be less the policy excess, as follows:

• £500 - Fire, Lightning, Earthquake, Explosion, Aircraft, Riot and Civil
  Commotion
• £1,000 - Subsidence, Heave and Landslip
• £7,500 - Escape of Water
• £500 - Unless otherwise stated, all other Contingencies

If the damage was caused by a fault on the communal systems (i.e. roof leak, communal pipe leaks) the excess will be met in full by the service charge.  If the damage is caused by other leaseholders, e.g. a leak from defective pipework that is demised to the flat above or if a bath has been allowed to overflow, then the lessee making the claim is responsible for paying the excess initially and attempting to recover such cost from the flat above or from their contents insurance policy (if such cover is included).