Access to low cost finance, business rate pilots and the need to implement town and city centre regeneration programmes have provided necessary drivers for the large scale acquisition of property across the country.
Whilst owning property is not new in the public sector – some of the largest property owners in the country are publicly funded – the scale and size of some of the investments means many councils are entering the realm of the commercial property owner/investor/landlord.
As a property owner you face a series of risks from damage to the asset to potential falls in capital and rental value, void periods on empty properties and non-paying tenants to unforeseen expenditure and, sooner or later, rises in interest rates.
Whilst traditional public sector insurers offer robust protection of the asset, when it comes to providing protection for those specialist “commercial risks” a more bespoke and tailored wording and approach can complement the Local Authorities move into the Corporate Landlord arena. This short document highlights some of the benefits of choosing a specialist real estate insurance solution for your commercial property portfolio.
Coverage
Wider/enhanced policy coverage under bespoke property owners’ policy wordings can include:
- Loss of rent for properties vacant at the time of loss (where being actively marketed).
- Loss of sale price due to damage to the property of buildings nearby.
- Cover for your own costs and the costs of employing specialists to compile information to support a major claim to insurers (claim preparation clause).
- Construction and Project insurance, to help protect your assets during refurbishment or development.
- Latent Defects cover, to provide post-completion protection.
- Flexible and innovative solutions that address environmental risk exposures such as increased flood risks.
- Legal Indemnity insurance for a range of property investments.
Competitive Pricing
Underwriters who fully understand the risk of a commercial property portfolio will provide pricing based on the asset risk itself and not influenced by general losses in the public sector market place.
In addition to bringing new insurers to the public sector, which is always welcomed, it is clear that specialist Real Estate underwriters are often able to provide competitive solutions. Given their specialism, they have a deeper understanding of the complex, diverse risks and trades that a public sector portfolio can present.
Additional Corporate Landlord Services
- Risk Management funding from insurers that promote improvements in the risk exposure of your premises.
- Provision of all recharge documentation to aid prompt collection of premiums from the tenant.
- Manage and respond to tenant premium queries.
- Support on claims including delegated authority to settle claims on insurers behalf.
- Input on insurance elements of lease and contract wordings.
- Additional income stream - you are in a commercial relationship and as such can recover reasonable business costs through the provision of protection for your clients. Many commercial landlords will look to recover these costs through commission shares with the broker or some form of enhanced commission arrangement.
Why Gallagher?
Experience
A dedicated service team of experienced real estate specialists. Our knowledge and understanding of the real estate sector means that we are an experienced partner you can trust.
Specialist solutions
We have the experience and expertise that has made us the insurance partner of choice for some of the UK’s leading property investment firms and funds.
Capacity
Access to some of the leading UK real estate insurers, and Lloyds’ markets where required, providing choice and competition to help drive best value.
Client focused
Risk and insurance solutions designed around you. Our risk and insurance solutions include:
- Due diligence, revenue protection and crisis management.
- Lease and contract analysis, to audit your exposure and cover requirements.
- Captive feasibility studies and captive management.
- In-depth claims trend analysis by our specialist Management Information team.
- Training and CPD-accredited workshops, to help mitigate risk and reduce your premium spend.
- Specialist, efficient and effective administrative support.
- Risk management solutions including advice for a range of tenant trades.
The opinions and views expressed in the above articles are those of the author only and are for guidance purposes only. The authors disclaim any liability for reliance upon those opinions and would encourage readers to rely upon more than one source before making a decision based on the information.
