Commercial Property Owners' Insurance

Commercial property owners’ insurance, also known as commercial landlord insurance, is designed to offer specialist protection for landlords letting out buildings to third parties for commercial use.

Typically, a commercial or business policy will cover your property against loss of damage caused by fire and a range of perils such as lightning, storm, flood, malicious damage etc. We can also include Theft damage to buildings as well as accidental damage and subsidence.

This depends if you are the owner or a tenant. Commercial building insurance is not a legal necessity but without it you will have to pay for any damage the property suffers due to fire storm or flood. You will also be liable for any third-party compensation claims related to property damage or injury through negligence.

Tenants need to ensure they have appropriate cover, and also check their lease agreement for any mandatory insurance requirements.

If you employ any staff, it is a legal requirement to have employers’ liability insurance. This can be added to your policy.

In the event of a severe fire loss (or other insured peril) your property would be not be fit for occupation and you may therefore suffer a loss of rental income until the property has been fully repaired. The length of time it will take to repair your building will vary, as all buildings are different - and you must take into account the location, type and construction of the property. Specialist properties, grade 1 and 2, can take longer to build by their specialist nature. It is best to be cautious and consider a minimum of 24 months or longer.

Yes we are able to cover unoccupied properties up to 30 days on a standard package for fire, lightning, earthquake and aircraft. Longer periods can be arranged with some of our specialist insurers.

Yes, we are able to offer cover for listed buildings.

It depends; if buildings cover is included, then yes the structure of the flat would be too. With buildings cover this would include property owner’s liability, so slips and trips related to the building as a whole can be covered. It is down to the tenant of the flat above to arrange cover for their own home contents.

The premiums are generally refunded on a pro-rata basis. Therefore, if you have paid in full for the year then you would be entitled to a return of premium (minus commission and fee). Likewise, if you are paying by direct debit there will either be an outstanding balance to pay or a return due back to you, depending on where your payments fall in the month. Most insurers are unlikely to allow a refund where a claim(s) have been made in the current year.

Your buildings sum insured should represent the current rebuilding value of the property following a total loss, including the costs of debris removal, architects' and surveyors fees and other professional costs.

You can contact the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) for independent professional advice. As the costs of labour and materials can change we recommend you have a professional rebuild valuation survey conducted regularly – at least every three years.

Commercial insurance works slightly differently to an individual’s insurance policy; please be aware there is no cooling off period in commercial insurance.

Yes, we give our clients the option of receiving documents by post or email. Just let us know when you set up your policy or call us at any time and we will email them to you.

This depends on the policy you have chosen. We act as brokers and have access to several schemes. You may receive quotes from a few different insurers depending on the cover you request as we will seek policies from our panel of insurers. The name of your insurers will be stated in your policy documents.

It varies dependant on each individual risk. On average we can provide a quotation within 20 minutes. For more specialist insurance we generally ask for a couple of hours so that we can go out to the market and find you a range of competitive quotes to choose from.

You can pay in full or by direct debit. Payment in full can be done via BACS transfer or debit or credit card. All major cards are accepted except American Express.

To help you spread the cost of your premiums, we offer a quick and easy direct debit scheme for spreading payment over ten months. Please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page to find out more.

If you would like to know more about our monthly payment option, please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page.

We have provided a summary of the key features of the policy, above. For details of the terms and conditions applicable, please refer to the insurance product information document and policy wording, which are available during the quotation process.