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FAQs

Q. Who Underwrites the Policy?

A. SAGIC (Salvation Army General Insurance Corporation) - wholly owned by the Salvation Army this insurance company is, as you may imagine, highly ethical and has constantly shown itself to treat customers Fairly.

Q. How many properties can be covered?

A. A minimum of 3 at inception. There is no maximum but portfolios with more than 12 properties will be referred for confirmation if requested (usually acceptance is given the same day).

Q. What excesses are on the policy?

A. There is a £1000 excess for subsidence, heave and landslip. There is an escape of water excess of £150.00. The proposer must take an excess which can be £75.00, £100 (save 5%), 150.00, (save 10%) £250.00 (save 20%), £500 (save 25%) or £1,000 (save 30%). If the excess chosen is £250.00 or more then the escape of water excess is increased to the same level.

Q. What about flat roofs/ non standard construction?

A. Flat roofs covering more than 25% of the house and over 10 years old are not covered (nor is any damage caused indirectly by their condition) unless the roof is inspected annually by a qualified person, a record kept and any recommended repairs implemented. In which case an additional £250.00 excess applies. If properties are of non standard construction the details (address/ type of construction) should be added in the additional information box at the bottom of the underwriting questions page.

Q. How do I provide information about the properties to be insured?

A. On the page asking for information there are four text areas - one for the address, one for the postcode, one for the buildings sum insured and one for the contents sum insured. Addresses may have commas in them, sums insured should not. There should be a line break ([Enter]) after each piece of information. This method enables large numbers of property details to be cut and pasted directly into the quotation system from spreadsheets, resulting in an extremely quick quotation.

Q. Are there any restrictions on the types of tenants?

A. Pretty well any type of tenant (or no tenant or holiday home) can be catered for, including students, asylum seekers, DSS referrals, DSS bedsits and HMOs/ bedsits with agreements with multiple tenants. (Subject to a maximum rebuilding cost per property of £1 million). On the right side of the page in a box you will see the types of tenants for which we can quote online. Please call us if a tenant does not fit into any category.

Q. How do I use the box?

A. The box asks the number of properties that are let in certain ways. The premium calculation is based on these numbers, not the individual class of tenant in each property. This means that you do not have to advise us if the type of tenancy changes during the year - but a fresh declaration is required at renewal.

Q. How does this affect the premium?

A. Under some circumstances e.g. low sum insured properties are occupied by high-risk tenants, the premium will be slightly more than theoretically correct. However the discount used for portfolios is more than on single properties and will compensate for this. Obviously the opposite will apply in other cases and then the policyholder obtains the benefit.

Q. Could I insure each property individually?

A. Yes - there is no reason not to - other than the time completing (in this case) 70 different proposal forms. However please note that there will probably be no saving since:

  • A 20% portfolio discount is allocated on the whole premium for claim free risks and additional properties automatically obtain the same discount whereas on individual properties the maximum no claims bonus is only 15% and an additional property would start off with no no claims bonus. Note that a claim would affect the whole portfolio discount, but only the single policy affected.

  • Single property policies incorporate a £25.00 policy fee (£35.00 for premiums over £250.00) - there is a reduced fee per property on portfolios: £15.00 up to 5, £7.50 6 - 10, £5.00 11 - 15 and 0 for 16 or over.

  • We have to be advised of each change in tenant type on individual policies - not for a portfolio (other than the annual declaration)

You could, however, insure some properties individually and some on a portfolio to change the percentages.

Our aim is to simplify the quotation process and provide you with cover quickly and easily (and pretty cheaply as well!)

Q. What about non-standard risks?

A. These will be looked at by underwriters on a case-by-case basis. Property close to flooded areas but which are rated as very low probability of flooding by the Environmental Agency will probably be acceptable at normal terms. The quotation automatically adjusts for previous claims, providing no property has had three or more claims in the last 12 months or three in the last three years and there has been no single claim exceeding £5,000.00. As claims get older the effect on the premium automatically reduces. Please note that the actual premium is worked out on the exact amount paid out. Although the insurer will not reduce a settlement for an amount that is slightly out (e.g. a claim that was thought to have been settled for £900 when it was settled for £1,200), please be as accurate as possible.

If come direct to this page, Our landlord portfolio insurance for property produces immediate quotes and arrange cover. Or click, here for our SAGIC main page.