Listed Property Owners’ Club
Creates Free Insurance Guide
for Listed Property Owners
If disaster strikes you may well be required by law to reinstate
using traditional materials and methods matching the original,
irrespective of cost. Would your present insurer be willing to cover
the full costs? If not, can you imagine the consequences?
I
t is vital that appropriate
cover is obtained for
listed homes as general
insurance providers may
only provide enough
cover for a minimal
‘standard’ rebuild, leaving
you to finance the shortfall
should the worst happen. It is
worth remembering that work
on these buildings requires
traditional materials and skills
which will normally be more
time consuming and expensive.
It is also worth remembering
that sadly listed buildings are
vulnerable to unauthorised
works by previous owners.
Prospective owners must
be aware of the problems
unearthing unauthorised works
can cause, as the following
owners case study shows:
correct permissions had been
given and all alterations were
above board. what a reasonable person could
be expected to do in relying on
their solicitor’s advice.
After purchasing the property,
the owner contacted the
council to seek permission to
make their own alterations.
After a site visit, the council
advised that previous
alterations made to the
building by previous owners
did not comply with planning
regulations and there were no
records of permission being
granted. This case study shows how
important it is that the
insurance policy has the correct
cover in place for specifics
relating to listed buildings, and
in this particular case that was
unauthorised works by previous
owners. This is not something
a ‘standard’ policy would
include. It also highlights the
advantages of using a specialist
broker who understands listed
buildings and can fight on
your behalf during the claims
procedure.
LISTED HOME OWNER CASE
STUDY Unauthorised changes by
previous owners legally fall to
the responsibility of the current
owner to rectify, therefore the
client was required by law to
reverse or ‘make-good’ any
alterations, at their own cost.
And in this case these costs
were likely to reach £100,000.
In October 2016 an owner
purchased a listed building.
Prior to that purchase they first
queried whether the evident
alterations to the building
had received the proper
permissions from the local
authorities. The prospective
owner was then assured by
their local solicitor that the The owner’s insurers initially
declined the claim for the
works, however, because the
owner had chosen to insure
via a specialist advisory broker,
the broker fought their corner
and took the claim back to
the insurer. The decision was
then overturned as the broker
argued that the client had done
64 Landscape & Urban Design
FREE ‘GUIDE TO INSURING
YOUR LISTED PROPERTY’
The Listed Property Owners’
Club (LPOC) unfortunately
often hears from listed property
owners who only realise they
are under-insured when things
go wrong whilst undergoing a
claim. They turn to the Club for
help and advice with finding
solutions and resolving their
problems. ‘A Guide to Insuring
Your Listed Property’ was
created by LPOC, drawing on
over 20 years’ experience of
the hazards of listed property