If you own a garage, you will need a policy that insures the entire property, including all garages, your own garage (freehold), and those for rent to neighbors. These are typically rented on a 999-year Peppercorn lease.
It should include the Legal Liability coverage you need to protect your responsibilities as a free owner to the tenant, while insuring the entire building, including the leased garages.
Coach House insurance must include, but is not limited to:
• All hazards – These are things like fire, storm, flood, etc., including water leakage.
• Impact and Collision – This covers the property in the event someone hits the building with a car, such as a small mistake when entering a garage!
• Property owners liability of £ 2 million, which is the part of the policy that protects your legal liabilities to the tenant.
• Accidental Damage: This is optional and covers things like a couch spill and DIY disasters.
• Personal possession coverage: It is also optional and includes your everyday valuables when you take them out of the house: mobile phones, wallets, cameras, etc.
• Specified Items – You can specify any particular item of value that is worth more than £ 1,500, for example.
And much more!
You can expect all the usual features and benefits that homeowners insurance offers as you tailor a policy to meet the specific needs of your property.
Why is so difficult? More and more properties of this type are being built, so it is a shame that the insurance industry has not kept up, this makes things difficult for coach owners and the market is much more limited. The legal liability aspect of the property deal is something that most insurers don’t understand, so they simply reject coverage or impose huge premium ratings to cover risk. The fact is, garage insurance carries no more risk than any other type of property. It all comes down to a lack of knowledge.
There are insurers that are very adept at issuing good quality custom insurance for these types of properties, so you need to do your research.
What not to do. Never insure your garage as a single family home because it is not a single family home, never insure your garage as a floor because it is not a floor. This seems obvious, but some people just change the property description to fit the checkbox. All claims made on a policy with incorrect information submitted by the policy owner will be rejected. You cannot insure a BMW like a Ford and the same logic applies.
What should you do. Always insure a garage such as a carport and look for an insurer that covers garages. While this will take more time and will require more research on your part, you must secure your property accurately to protect you and yourself.