Insurance for Commercial Listed Buildings from Highhouse
We have a number of facilities that will enable us to quote for listed buildings that are used for commercial (business) purposes. When you first contact our office we will undertake an initial assessment of your details to ascertain on what basis your property should be insured. In many cases, particularly where the building is designed and used as a private dwelling as well as a business, we may be able to issue a standard home owner policy. For example if you live in say the upper portion of the property but use the basement as a studio or consulting rooms, we can often insure you on a domestic policy with the cover suitably endorsed to note the business use. You will of course be responsible for arranging suitable business insurance including liability.
In all other circumstances, we will need to insure your listed building on either a commercial property owner’s basis (in instances where you are the landlord and you rent the property to tenants) or on a business combined basis if you also want to say cover your stock and liabilities.
A listed building is one that is of special interest and the listed status protects it from certain alterations which helps to preserve the building in it’s original state. Owners of listed buildings who are intending to use the property for commercial purposes will discover that there will be restrictions on the usage of the property as well as on any alterations to make it suitable for commercial use.
When obtaining an insurance quotation the Insurance Company will need to know the full details of the listing and also the materials employed in the construction of the building. At Highhouse Insurance we can quote for all grades of listed building.
Insurance companies are very cautious when quoting on a commercial listed building as they are aware that in the event of a claim, costs can be very high. This is because the length of time for any repairs to be completed is usually much longer than with standard construction commercial premises due to the fact that the correct permission must be obtained and consultants often need to be brought in to supervise work and ensure it is of the correct standard. Delays can arise when building materials are sought, for example, a specific type of stone. As it is usually necessary for professionals with listed building experience to carry out the repairs, the cost of the work will reflect their expertise. This increased cost of repair is shown in the higher insurance premiums on listed building insurance. When quoting the Insurance company will also require full details of either your trade or the trade of the tenant and will need to know about any materials stored in the property.
Private residential listed buildings can sometimes be converted into commercial businesses if they have obtained the necessary planning approval. Planning approval is, however, very restrictive and it may be impossible to for example remove existing windows and replace them with a glass frontage. Likewise, it may not be possible to add a nameplate to the outside of the building or to alter the inside in a way to make it more visitors friendly. Insurers will need to be told exactly how the commercial listed building operates and if there are any split usages within the building.
Although insurance premiums are higher in commercial listed buildings, it is not normally that difficult to obtain a quotation and subject to full information we will be pleased to assist you with either a quote for just your building or to include your business risks as well.
Subject to full underwriting details, we can normally supply standard insurance perils that would be suitable to secure a mortgage on a property and to satisfy a lenders conditions. Examples of listed commercial building we insure include; public houses, tea rooms, bed and breakfasts, hotels and guesthouses. We also have a number of customers who run business from their home and we are happy to quote on these as well.
We also have facilities to quote for religious buildings such as chapels, churches and mosques including grade 1 listed buildings used as places of worship.
We have many years’ experience in placing insurance on these special building and we welcome your enquiry
