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Buy House Insurance when Contracts Exchange Buying and selling a house can be one of the most stressful things you can do! The experts say it's sup there with getting married and packing a young family off on a foreign holiday! There are so many things that you need to organize and quite simply not enough hours in the day, to get them done. An important consideration that we all really should put at the top of the list, is house insurance. Let's face it, you wake up one day and think, mmh, "buy house" but rarely we think of the house insurance. All of that running around, doing this & that, meeting with solicitors accounts for absolutely zero if your house goes up in smoke. This piece is designed to give some simple, straightforward clarification, that every home owner ought to know. If you don't know who should [...]

End of Tenancy More than ever before the end of tenancy can have a significant impact on what lies ahead for landlords of commercial property or residential property owners. At this time the stakes have never been higher, with an increase in tenants on the residential letting side unable to pay their rent as a direct result of the pandemic & job losses. With landlords simply unable in many cases to evict them, the end of tenancy may come as a pleasant relief for some landlords – they may be able to re-let or at least advertise for a tenant that will keep the cash flow coming in their direction. However, most landlords will inevitably deal with some level of unoccupancy for at least a limited period of time, others may experience much longer periods of unoccupancy. This not only causes the obvious headache with a much reduced income, [...]

Does your Block Building Insurance policy need updated? With current restrictions in place across much of the UK, Block buildings are no different to commercial properties, in the sense that occupancy levels may start to reduce with the onset of job losses, and tenants perhaps unable to pay the rent. There will of course be many reasons for block buildings such as flats becoming partly or completely empty, and it is crucial for whatever the reason, you inform your block building insurance provider of this change. This is critical to ensure you understand if there are any changes to the level of cover or if there are any extra conditions you must comply with due to levels of unoccupancy. Failure to tell your insurer can open you up to a whole host of problems. (Our own terms of business can be read here). Top Tip – Any change to [...]

Are Blocks of Flats a good investment? Are blocks of flats a good investment? It’s a fairly subjective question. Like most property, if you are in it for the long haul, then chances are your investment return will far exceed any short-term returns you might have had should you sell early. Blocks of flats (sometimes known as multi-unit freehold blocks) have much higher average yields than other property, getting finance for them is just as obtainable and Buildings Insurance for Blocks of Flats is also easy to purchase with greater level of discount available. Seems like a no brainer if you have the funds. Let’s have a look at yields, finance and buildings insurance for flats. First, what is a multi-unit freehold block? Multi-unit Freehold block This is defined as multiple, separate, independent residential units which are held under one single title. These would include: Blocks of flats which [...]

Lift Insurance including Inspection & Breakdown If you are responsible for the insurance of flats in a block, you will no doubt know of the various responsibilities places upon you. If you live in a modern purpose built block of flats & are lucky enough not to have to take the stairs, as there is a nice new shiny elevator, then add an extra layer to those already stringent responsibilities. Outside of Health & Safety Requirements you are obliged to ensure that the lift is in perfect working order for the passengers. If you are not sure where to start, then a Lift Inspection and Engineering policy (otherwise known as lift insurance) is a very good place to start. If you haven’t already got one in place, it should be considered – when an elevator breaks down and there is no lift insurance policy in place, this can give [...]

Do I need Freeholder Insurance? Freeholder Insurance is similar to other buildings insurance policies with one or two subtle differences, so don’t let the terminology throw you. A freeholder is the ‘superior landlord’, and therefore these policies are not too dissimilar to a landlord policy one might have for a buy-to-let rental property for example. If you are looking for a freeholder policy, the chances are you are looking for a Block of Flats Insurance policy, where there are leaseholders or private tenants or even a combination of both. The Freeholder is simply the landlord and is often responsible for insuring the building unless there is a Right to Manage Company set up in its place to do the same. Freehold insurance will ensure the building is covered & it is up to individual tenants & leaseholders to insure their own contents. Freeholder can be defined as : Someone [...]

Is getting Builder Insurance even worth it? Life on a construction site has certainly changed in 2020. Or at least it should be where at all possible. Covid-19 led to a nationwide lockdown which of course had a huge knock on effect to the construction industry. Times are tough but this doesn't mean one should forget taking out a good builder insurance or trade insurance policy. Sites had not been forced to close this year, but contractors had to implement all sorts of new measures to protect their employees. Before we go in to some of those measures, this inevitably meant one thing as a starter, the whole build process would take a lot longer that it did before with the extra measures that were introduced. Sites have had to implement: Social Distancing – slowing down certain processes that would normally take half the time Provide extra PPE (delays [...]

Careful where you leave your Wheelie Bin! Every household will have one – a wheelie bin. Every week we go through the motions of separating our food wastes, plastic recyclables and garden wastes from normal household waste. After our wheelie bins are jam packed and left on the street to be collected by a refuse collector, we hope that our bin won’t be missed or left because, “the lid couldn’t close.” If you have a wheelie bin, you will no doubt harboured these thoughts many times, but have you ever considered your occupiers liability? So the bins are out the night before (if you are organised) & or first thing in the morning, and you run out the door, coffee in hand to join the daily commute! Nothing to worry about, your bin is emptied, and you return home on a dark & wet winters evening & get straight [...]

Will it be twice as bad? Experts have warned that the current crisis from the Pandemic could result in twice as many redundancies as there were in 2008 - 2009 as a result of the Global Financial Crisis! A survey carried out by the British Medical Association  (BMA), found that 80% of 500 GPs and hospital consultants  surveyed believed a second wave is "likely" or "very likely" to happen. That will mean a lot of people out of work and a lot of negative consequences as a result. When people are out are of work, inevitably all roads lead back to some sort of effect on the housing market. Tenants can no longer afford to make their rental payments,  home owners can fall short on their monthly mortgage payments and risk losing their homes. These two scenarios played out heavily during the 2008 financial crisis, and when this happens the [...]

Stamp Duty Relief When purchasing a property you must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if that property (or land) is over a certain price. The higher the price, then the SDLT increases incrementally. However, the government in a bid to kick start the housing market has changed the levels that stamp duty must be paid. Essentially, taking many people out of actually paying stamp duty at all until the purchase is over £500,000 in England & Northern Ireland. Scotland & Wales have changed their rules too.In Scotland, it has now been changed to up to £250,000 (known as Land and Buildings Transaction Tax). Wales have taken a slightly different approach and have increased the nil-rate band from £180,000 to £250,000 (known as Land Transaction Tax), but only for main residence purchases & not second homes – not very good news for buy to let investors in Wales!Any way you [...]

Business Insurance Lockdown Concerns It seems very likely there will be second wave of coronavirus in the not too distant future. Whether or not that brings a second lockdown on the same scale as the one we saw in March remains to be seen. People will no doubt be concerned from a health perspective, but what about from a business perspective for business insurance in Northern Ireland? Being a business owner there will no doubt be even more uncertain times ahead. One thing that will be needing some clarity is the Business Interruption Insurance coverage some insurers have provided for on their policy wordings. You may or not be aware, the FCA is involved in a test case to see if there can be much needed clarity brought to coverage under a business insurance policy & more specifically, the Business Interruption insurance afforded under them. The main aim of [...]

Directors and Officers Insurance Directors and Officers Insurance, do I really need it? When the topic of Directors and Officers Insurance is raised, this is the most common question. Well, it depends. You may be a limited company and as director of that limited company, stick to procedure and do everything to the best of your abilities. But that doesn’t mean errors will not occur. Insurance has always been about peace of mind. When asking, “Do I need D&O Insurance?” It should be looked at in the context of the potential liability of loss you could face. This is why many Directors take out a Directors and Officers Insurance policy. One thing that truly answers that question for most Directors and Officers is that your personal assets could be at risk. A frightening thought, but it is a fact. Being a Director or Officer has the potential to be [...]

Legal Expenses Insurance Being a landlord you should be automatically covered under a landlord policy for the standard risks such as Fire, Subsidence, theft, flood and so on. However, being a landlord you may well feel that you are exposed to other risks that you may not necessarily been exposed to before. This is why you should consider taking out legal expenses insurance. You may be able to take out a legal expenses policy as an extra on your current landlord’s policy or if that’s not available, you can take out a standalone legal expenses insurance policy. So, what does it cover you for? Being a landlord you are now exposed to events you had never been exposed to before. This may include the following: Breach of Tenancy Agreement This may provide cover for any breach by a tenant of any obligations they might have under the tenancy agreement [...]

What is next for the High Street? The High Street has been in decline for over a number of years, and 2020 has thrown another spanner in the works. If it was not bad enough, the coronavirus pandemic has dealt another huge blow to all high street traders. With many staff still on furlough, many small businesses have been forced to close and who is to say that they will ever feel there is the right environment to return. Even when the furlough scheme eventually finishes, what guarantees do employers have that their staff will want to return? This places high street traders under huge uncertainty and may be the final nail in the coffin for some traders. This as we all know now and has been said many times before, will have a huge knock on affect to our economy. Many business have shut already as financial help [...]

Nursery Insurance Is it better to insure Nursery Buildings separately? If you are looking for Nursery Insurance to cover the nursery building itself, you should make sure you are covered for the following first: Property Owners Liability Loss of Rental Income Standard perils such as Fire, Lightning, Earthquake, Aircraft, storm theft etc A standard buildings policy should cover all of the above. You will even have the option to include or add some extra coverage to the buildings. This may include the likes of Legal Expenses up to £100,000 per claim or extended Full Accidental Damage to the buildings. Some policies will include these ‘extras’ as standard, so it is important to check with your broker when taking out a policy. The question as to whether or not it is better to separate the business from the building, may in fact be out of your hands if they are [...]

Woodland Insurance What is Woodland? A woodland is a habitat where trees are the dominant plant form on the land. The individual tree canopies generally are seen to overlap one another and interlink. They often form a more or less continuous canopy which shades the ground to varying degrees. There will be a great variety of other plants, depending on the amount of light reaching the ground through the tree canopy. Other such growth may include mosses, ferns and lichens, or possibly flowering herbs, grasses and shrubs. Animal diversity in the woodland is dependent on the different kinds of plants there are. As of 31 March 2020 is estimated to be 3.21 million hectares of Woodland in the UK. This represents 13% of the total land area in the UK, 10% in England, 15% in Wales, 19% in Scotland and 9% in Northern Ireland. Woodland can be divided into 3 [...]

New Regulations Five Yearly Electrical Checks From 1st June 2020, private landlords in England will be required to have the electrical installation in their rental properties checked by a qualified electrician to ensure that they are safe. This means that: Electrical Installations must be inspected and tested prior to the start of a new tenancy from 1st July 2020 Checks must be carried out on any existing tenancies by the 1st April 2021 These checks must then be carried out on a five-yearly basis. A copy of the most recent electrical safety condition report (EICR) must be provided to both new and retained tenants. The landlord is responsible for making sure that the person who completes the check is suitably competent. Using an electrician or firm that is a member of an accredited registration scheme operated by a recognized body will give you the confidence that this has been achieved. Mandatory [...]