Listed Building Insurance

It’s difficult to provide a general cost estimate for listed building insurance without having specific information about the building and the cover needed. However, the cost can be higher than standard home insurance due to the specialist work often required to repair or restore listed buildings in line with Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland.

Yes, future works on a listed building can affect your insurance. It’s important to inform your insurer about any planned works before they commence. This helps ensure that you comply with the terms of your policy and maintain correct cover. If you’re unsure how the works will affect your insurance, consulting with your insurer or insurance broker is a good idea.

Yes, we can arrange insurance for listed buildings in Scotland. We offer cover for Grade A, B and C listed buildings across Scotland.

In short, yes. It’s essential to determine who the freeholder and leaseholder are and we will discuss your property in detail before arranging cover. By doing so, we can explore crucial aspects of your property, such as its registered status and the commercial use on the ground floor. These discussions give us the necessary level of detail to identify an appropriate policy.

Insurance policies, including those for listed buildings, can’t be backdated. They cover future risks from the policy start date onwards, not past events. Any damage occurring before the policy start date won’t be covered. Always consult with an insurance professional for specifics.

Renovation work on a listed property can affect your insurance cover. Standard policies may not cover damages that occur during renovation, so you might need additional renovation insurance. It’s crucial to inform your insurer or broker about any planned works beforehand to ensure adequate cover and policy compliance. Some insurers allow up to £100k of works to be carried out on your listed property without the need to be informed.

Listed buildings may have certain restrictions on their use, particularly if they have significant historical or architectural features. It’s important to be aware of any specific uses of your property if it’s residential and/or has a commercial use element. This understanding will help us determine if any restrictions or limitations are relevant.

Listed buildings are invaluable assets in the UK, serving as historical touchstones that enrich our cultural heritage; thus, they must be well-maintained to preserve their architectural uniqueness and historical significance for future generations. However, you are not legally required to have insurance for a listed building, although mortgage lenders usually require buildings insurance to be in place for the property. Regardless, it’s highly recommended to insure any property, especially listed buildings, due to potential high repair and restoration costs and to maintain the property’s cultural heritage.

When working on a listed building, it is important to consider:

• how long you will need alternative accommodation for (the works may take longer than for a standard construction property)
• conservation officers must approve materials to match the original ones
• quality restoration with higher-quality materials is crucial
• hiring specialist builders may result in additional costs
• obtaining a surveyor’s report is highly recommended for accurate insurance cover

Across England, Wales, and Scotland, there are over 577,000 listed properties.

In some exceptional cases, a listed building may be delisted. However, this is a rare occurrence and usually requires strong evidence that the building no longer holds the significance for which it was originally listed. Delisting a building typically involves a formal review process by the relevant heritage authorities.