Am I being ripped off by communal block insurance?

Am I being ripped off by communal block insurance?

0:01 AM, 2nd December 2024, About 3 days ago 9

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I have a two bedroom flat in a large Aberdeen development of 2/3/4 bedroom flats. I pay 0.89% of the annual policy premium. Smaller flats pay 0.61%. All fine as presumably my flat is dearer to reinstate if destroyed. I pay £700 per annum. Is that price fair or am I being ripped off?

I have not made any claims in 12 years, in contrast to the rest of the development which has seen high numbers of claims by individual flats for flooding/water leaks etc.

The deed of conditions (DOC), part of my title deeds states “the proprietors of each flat shall be bound to to concur with each other and with any manager or any factor in effecting a common insurance policy covering each flat, block common parts, mutual areas and car parking spaces”

This seems to make it clear that I cannot opt out and buy my own cheaper insurance. Has anyone seen any authority suggesting otherwise?

The size of the premium probably wasn’t helped by the fact that, when our factor was recently taken over by a new company, we discovered that a new policy had been arranged without consulting the owners. This is something we clearly need to address, given the “bound to concur” requirement in the Deed of Conditions.

Thanks,

Richard


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Graham Bowcock

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10:25 AM, 2nd December 2024, About 2 days ago

It sounds dear, but the only way you will know if it is would be to make sure the agent gets competitive quotes.

You can't really go alone on this, but unfortunately the overall premium will be tainted by the high number of claims.

Dizzy

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12:07 PM, 2nd December 2024, About 2 days ago

Hi Richard
If there have been claims Insurance is expensive.
Having sacked managing agents who managed to rack up £20k of partially unsubstantiated claims in 2 years for a small block of 6 flats we still pay £600 each.
They now blame bad weather and rising costs.
The claims will count against us for at least 3 years.
That is with me running the block and not charging any fees or commission
Dizzy

Paul Essex

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12:36 PM, 2nd December 2024, About 2 days ago

Insurance has gone up massively so you may find that is the going rate for your flat.

Rich

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10:07 AM, 3rd December 2024, About A day ago

Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 02/12/2024 - 12:36
Thanks for all replies . Sounds like a lot of people like me in the same boat.

Rich

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10:08 AM, 3rd December 2024, About A day ago

Reply to the comment left by Dizzy at 02/12/2024 - 12:07
Thanks. I will bear in mind your point about 3 years as we've spent a fair amount on flood mitigation recently

Rich

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10:43 AM, 4th December 2024, About 10 hours ago

Reply to the comment left by Graham Bowcock at 02/12/2024 - 10:25
Graham
Thanks form the reply - reading the deed of conditions again I can see that I left out words which might be important. The wording is "effecting a common policy or policies covering each flat"
The last part appears to open up the possibility of a separate policy for an individual flat.
I can see this might be resisted by a factor/management company for being impractical but if it can be done then, given my lack of claims, maybe it would be cheaper

Dizzy

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10:50 AM, 4th December 2024, About 10 hours ago

Hi again,

I have spoken with my brokers again this morning.
In exchange for an additional £1k excess they are offering me £850 off of a £3.6K premium.
This reduces the price per flat to £460.
My owners are delighted.

Rich

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10:56 AM, 4th December 2024, About 9 hours ago

Reply to the comment left by Dizzy at 04/12/2024 - 10:50
Thx Dizzy. Good result. I'll give it a go myself with the broker ..

Graham Bowcock

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13:17 PM, 4th December 2024, About 7 hours ago

Reply to the comment left by Rich at 04/12/2024 - 10:43
The issue with polciies for each flat is how the common areas are insured. If you're the ground floor flat, who insurers the roof? Wjhat about halways, lifts, gardens, etc. Individual policies don't really work.

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