Listed buildings, due to their age and specialist nature, are particularly vulnerable to inadequate home insurance, especially as the extremely high rebuilding costs can often far exceed market value.
If you do have to repair your listed property, you will probably find that rebuild costs can be four times greater per square metre than the average modern, post-war property.
“It is shocking to realise that one in four owners of the most prized properties in the country are currently without adequate insurance,” says Jan Davies, rural insurance specialist for NFU Mutual.
“Listed properties are subject to extremely strict planning and building controls, thus Local Authorities can insist that any damage is repaired to the required standard. They also have a higher than average exposure to some risks, for example, thatched properties have an extremely high chimney fire risk making it even more important that homeowners ensure they are adequately insured.”
Cunningham Linsdey UK cite two examples of recent surveys carried out by their chartered surveyor, Luke Lockhart. One involved a late Victorian house which was found to be insured for only 75 per cent of the rebuilding cost, equating to a shortfall of £300,000. The other involved a valuation of a 17th Century brick and flint farmhouse in Norfolk which showed that the rebuilding cost would be twice the current sum insured, and that the owner would have been liable for up to £400,000 in the event of a major loss.
It is vital that owners of listed properties realise the costs involved with repairing it. A lot of these arise as a direct result of its age: the availability of suitable replacement materials and skilled craftsmen, period architectural details and external features, the location of the property and the quality of the internal decoration.
