Buildings and contents insurance: who should be paying for our home insurance?

Question: I am the leaseholder of a ground-floor flat and have been paying for insurance independently of the freeholder for the last five years.

However, a friend recently told me that this was the freeholder’s responsibility.

I am confused as to whether I should be contributing or not paying anything at all?

Answer: It is important to differentiate between buildings insurance, which offers protection against damage to the structure of a building, and contents insurance, which only covers your belongings in your flat.

The former is generally the responsibility of the freeholder, while the latter will be the individual flat owner’s.

You should obtain a copy of your lease to ascertain who is responsible for insuring the building.

Where the freeholder is responsible, there will usually be a corresponding provision requiring the leaseholder to contribute to the cost of the insurance premium.

While it is rare, you do sometimes come across so-called “maisonette leases”, where each leaseholder is responsible for insuring the part of the building in which their flat is located. In practice, you often find that, even with such provisions, there is only one insurance policy to which both flats contribute.

It would also be sensible to speak with the freeholder to ascertain exactly what insurance they have in place.

The freeholder is under a statutory obligation to provide you with a written summary of the insurance cover in place within 21 days of a request.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

If you have a question for Piers King, email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. Questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here.

Piers King is a solicitor in the property department of Streathers Solicitors LLP.