November
Commercial Buildings Insurance for Landlords
Will my landlord insurance cover my commercial property?
Absolutely not! You will need an insurance policy made for commercial buildings. Insurers treat commercial properties differently to residential buildings. An important factor in the premium calculation is the type of business occupying the premises. For instance, an office block occupied by clerical workers may be a very low risk for an insurance company. Whereas a takeaway restaurant with a deep fat fryer could be a very high risk. It all depends on what the occupier does, and at what time of the day and week. There are some categories which may be a surprisingly high risk to insurers. Trades such as DIY stores, electrical goods stores, furniture and carpet shops and dry cleaners/launderettes.
What type of cover will I have?
You will have insurance covering the building as standard. This will also include property owner’s liability insurance. That will cover guests or employees attending your premises that hurt themselves due to a building fault. The level of cover can vary between £2M to £10M.
Can I have loss of rent covered?
Yes, we can cover you for loss of rent and again this relates to the type of business. The longer the cover i.e. whether 12 or 36 months then the cheaper the cover can be.
Does it cover my employees working on site?
Yes, it can. This may be subject to an additional premium. It depends on what they are doing at the property.
Are legal costs included?
You will find that most insurance companies have some form of legal costs cover for commercial property policies. It is important to check the perils covered and the level of cover provided.
Do I need commercial property insurance?
If you own a building from which a business operates and whether it is your own company or someone else’s then it is deemed to be business premises. Commonly known as commercial premises. You will need to protect the bricks and mortar of the building that keeps your income safe.
What else would it cover?
There are various types of commercial property insurance, buildings insurance and contents insurance. These are put into two different areas.
Building Insurance will normally cover the rebuild and repair of your building dependent on how it is damaged. This could be by fire, explosion, storm etc. You will need to make sure also that you are protected on the following:-
- Burst pipes
- Flood
- Fire
- Riots
- Storms
- Subsidence
- Theft
It is so important that you ensure that you have the right type of cover. We often find that we have landlords who have the cover in respect of their property. But then take out various items which reduces the cost but leaves them exposed. It is all well and good saving £200 to £300 but what happens if you have taken a cover out that you need in future that costs you hundreds of thousands of pounds. You need to be very careful when considering this.
Contents insurance – what will it cover?
This will cover you for what is inside the building. Such as equipment stock etc. If it is not your business then the contents insurance will be your tenant’s responsibility. But, you need to make sure that the lease doesn’t provide for you to have to do this. It is so important that you have the right type of cover. Depending on what type of building it is you may have fixtures and fittings that don’t belong to the building but aren’t stock either. If you choose buildings insurance you can opt to protect these to. Commercial property insurance and contents can be very complicated and we are more than happy to walk you through this whole process.
Do I need buildings insurance if I don’t have a mortgage?
If you own the building outright then you aren’t legally required to have building insurance. But if it burnt down and you didn’t have insurance how would you rebuild it? What happens if somebody walks past and something falls off you could also be liable? It is so important that you consider all the legalities.
What about if my building gets damaged and we can no longer work there?
If this is the case then you may need an extension to your cover. This is often called business interruption insurance. This would cover you if the damage to your building means that you cant do business there. You can add this extra to your buildings or contents insurance.
You need to understand that every business is different and there are so many different types of cover that you can choose. You may need small business insurance or you may be a larger company that needs something different. We will make sure that we ask about your business and explain the different types of cover. Did you know that according to the Association of British Insurers the insurance industry pays out approximately £13M every day to homes and businesses that have suffered a loss. So make sure you don’t lose out.
What else would I need in terms of cover?
You can add other types of business cover to your commercial property such as:
Public liability
This covers you for injury, illness or death to third parties caused at work.
Employer’s liability insurance
This covers you for injury, illness and death to employees.
Business interruption
Which we have outlined above.
Why use iInsure365?
We have over the years been able to have a huge amount of relationships with Insurance Companies and can provide you with the best cover. We have the following:-
- Excellent premiums
- Over 20 years industry experience
- Qualified specialists not call centre automation
- Unique schemes
- Monthly instalments available if required
- Exclusive policies from top insurers
- Schemes for both residential and commercial properties
Here are some examples of commercial buildings we insure.
Example 1
- Commercial guest house with bar & restaurant
- Grade 2 listed building
- Loss of Rent included
- Rebuild cost of £760,000
- iInsure365 premium – £968.30
Example 2
- Property with mixed uses
- Fast food shop
- Vacant office
- 2 residential flats
- Loss of Rent included
- 100% flat roof
- £500,000 rebuild cost
- iInsure365 premium – £1,460.00
You should ensure that you have the correct insurance to cover your specific circumstances. If you have got any questions then don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and ask a member of our experienced team to help you. We are extremely flexible with our approach and can offer a basic building insurance policy that covers the basic perils or alternatively you can have a policy that covers all liability risks, goods in transit, professional indemnity, product liability and much much more.
We work with a huge number of the UK’s leading commercial insurance companies such as Aviva, AXA, Ageas and Zurich to mention only a few. You could be rest assured that in the event of a claim you will have a strong brand behind you that cares about their reputation.
It is important to protect your business ensuring that you have the right level of cover for commercial landlord insurance. Underinsurance can have severe consequences in the event of a claim. If you are found to be underinsured in the event of a claim. The insurer will calculate the percentage of underinsurance and reduce any claim by payments by that amount. Don’t be frightened of asking us what you need. We can help you and guide you in the right direction.
Summary
We can cover a wide range of commercial properties. This can range from purpose-built office blocks to mobile home sites to retail shops and restaurants. There are very few scenarios that cannot be covered. But, each commercial policy needs an individual rating. We need to ensure that we have the whole of your property covered with the right commercial insurance for your building. We can even cover unoccupied commercial property. Which can be difficult to find a provider for.
