Recommended Reading
An Insurance Insider Exposes
The Shady Practices And Underhanded Tactics
Used To Devalue Claims For Insurance Company Profit.
Commercial Industrial Building Insurance - Standard and Non-Standard Construction
In the UK, according to currently available statistics, we have one of the highest rates of insurance for commercial properties. In many other EU countries, whilst there may be as many commercial buildings, you tend to find that a higher percentage of them are uninsured. There is of course room for anomalies as it is difficult to get accurate statistics as there is no obligation to arrange this sort of cover.
The other reason for the stats not being 100% accurate is that you can own a building in your name, a partnership, a limited company or a charity. Limited companies are subject to much stricter provisions on returning information, whereas for individuals there is no such thing.
If you are an owner and are looking for commercial building insurance you need to be very careful about declaring the nature of the materials used in the construction. Most modern (post 1970's) industrial buildings tend to be constructed with a brick or block wall at first floor level and then corrugated steel upwards from there. The roof can be of steel or moulded fibreglass.
The good thing is that insurers do consider these types of materials as standard. Non-standard usually means walls made of wood, or majority wood, and roofs made of felt on timber or asphalt on timber. Insurers are happy to underwrite and provide cover on these types of buildings, however they may charge a higher premium and/or apply onerous terms.
The onerous terms they would apply for wooden walls would likely be an exclusion of theft, malicious damage and storm cover or a significantly increased excess. For a felt on timber roof, they tend to be more realistic and will apply an increased excess of £500-£1,000 and ask that the roof is inspected by a competent individual at least once every year with any repairs needed being undertaken immediately.
If you do have a building that is part steel/metal, you need to try and ascertain if the walls are lined or insulated in any way. Many of these buildings have an outer and an inner skin, between the two there is a form of insulation. This is designed to keep the building cool in the summer (because they have the same heat retention characteristics as a greenhouse) and warm in the winter. Some of these lining materials can be fire resistant (such as Rockwool) and other such as polystyrene offer no fire resistance whatsoever.
You need to declare to the insurer that is quoting or providing the cover what the lining materials are, polystyrene is at the bottom end of the scale and you may have a loading applied or sometimes, the quote withdrawn. Materials such as Rockwool are totally acceptable and insurers will not apply any loading or terms. As with all types of building and business insurance quote, you are obliged to declare as much material information as possible. Do not assume that because the question was not asked (about a particular risk factor) you do not need to declare the answer.
Jack Brown is a professional writer who writes on various finance and insurance related topics. For more information on small business insurance and commercial insurance quotes, he suggests you to visit http://www.businessinsure.co.uk.
Recommended Reading
An Insurance Insider Exposes
The Shady Practices And Underhanded Tactics
Used To Devalue Claims For Insurance Company Profit.
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