Listed buildings insurance

Listed buildings insurance

Listed buildings insurance covers those structures that are deemed of special architectural and/or historic interest. This ultimately means that if you have purchased a listed building, you will need to apply to your local authority for consent for any changes that could affect its interest. Generally, listing applies to buildings built before 1700 or during the period of 1700-1840 that still present many of their original features and condition. It is rare for a building constructed after 1945 to be included but can be added to the list if it is believed to be a structure of significance.

To find out more about making changes to a listed building visit their website .

The listing of buildings was introduced to protect British cultural heritage and the types of listing are as follows:

• Grade I – account for 2.5% of listed buildings. These buildings are of extreme special interest, and may even be considered internationally significant
• Grade II* - account for 5.5% of listed buildings. These are important structures of more than just special interest
• Grade II - account for 92% of all listed buildings. These are of national importance and special interest

In the UK, there are more than 370,000 listed buildings but as they display special qualities of significance, many standard policies will not cover them and many Insurers will avoid the complications and level of involvement that they present.

Calculating the value of your building and contents for a listed building provides many complexities. One of those is that English Heritage insists that should a catastrophic event occur that causes devastation to the property, a full restoration be made if over 40% of the historic fabric has survived. This is why specialist insurance is needed, along with taking extra time to make sure that you do not underinsure your property.

Options available include:

• Specialist Insurers - a specialist insurer is essential to look at the entire rebuilding cost including internal structure and materials as standard home insurers will just look at the exterior rebuild costs
• Valuation - it is crucial for an accurate valuation from an expert in historic buildings
• Reinstatement cover - the English Heritage restoration mandate ensures the consideration of how much an entire rebuild/restoration would cost with the use of materials and methods of equal exchange
• High net worth cover - this typically covers buildings with a value in excess of £250,000 and its contents more than £75,000

Know your property - if you are a part of the process from the beginning, knowing everything there is to know about your ‘extraordinary’ home, any documentation and resultant claims with an Insurer should be easier to work through.