© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
Try as you may to get alternative quotations the premium always seems to be more than you consider is fair and equitable. You are of course purchasing peace of mind for the year ahead.
You may find it hard to stomach but premium rates are in fact at an all time low.
Following 9/11 rates increased dramatically but in the ensuing years they dropped back to their former levels and in the last three years they have continued to nosedive to unprecedented low levels.
Why is this happening? There may only be a handful of major insurers specialising in property owners left following all the consolidation in the insurance market but thes players are very hungry for your business and compete aggressively for it.The market keeps looking for premiums to "bottom out" but to date this has not happened.
But make no mistake they will inevitably "bottom out" and rates will start to rise. It is not unlike the financial markets - the bubble must eventually burst -so make the best of the good times.
There are ways to make sure that you are getting a good deal. Premium is obviously important but in our view the quality of the product and it's provider is foremost. It is no good paying a cheap premium if the cover under the policy is inadequate and/or the provider is no longer financially solvent when you need to claim. You should therefore make sure that a property specialist insurance broker is acting for you and able to provide you with appropriate advice.
You should also look to take advantage of specialist schemes such as Chambers & Newman's Property Insurance for RTM's arranged with Allianz Insurance.
The broker will establish certain facts about your risk which will hopefully influence the insurance underwriter to offer you a favourable rate. For instance if you live in a more modern block with concrete floors you will be treated more favourably than if you live in an older block with wooden floors. Not surprisingly if you have had a lot of claims over the past five years you will not be treated as favourably as a block with no claims.Insurers will usually look upon one large claim as bad luck but they may see a series of small claims as poor management or worse. Small claims are costly for insurers to administer and this is the reason they usually like to see an excess of £250 or perhaps just £100. Residents naturally don't really want an excess but it can be in their best interests to have one. The claims experience looks better when in future years you come to market your risk.
It is important to provide the correct sum insured. Insurers will apply an inflation percentage at each renewal but this always assumes that the original figure was correct. It is surprising how a sum insured becomes inaccurate and insurers therefore recommend that the property is revalued every three years.
We are unfortunately now in recession and previous recessions have shown that claims always increase both in number and amount. This is at a time when insurance companies are under considerable pressure on the capital they have to keep in reserve to demonstrate their long term solvency. All this points to one thing and that is rates will increase in 2009 and future years. So act now and secure the best deal you can whilst the market is in your favour. It won't last so talk to your specialist property insurance broker now.