FAQs

Q. Who are SAGIC?

A. SAGIC (Salvation Army General Insurance Corporation) are a 'captive' insurance company of the Salvation Army. The company was set up to insure the property that belongs to the Salvation Army and also arrange cover for their members. profits from Underwriting are returned to the Salvation Army.

Q. Who are B Portwood & Co?

A. B Portwood & Co Ltd are insurance brokers based in the north-east of England who have been in business since 1963. The firm is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for the arrangement and administration of non-investment Insurance Products. (This means we arrange personal insurance such as motor and house as well as commercial insurance such as landlords, shops, offices, liability - but we don't arrange pensions or any product where there is an unknown financial return to the consumer)

About the Policy

Q. What types of residential property can be covered?

A. Cover is available for all types of residential property whose rebuilding cost does not exceed £1,000,000. The property may be owner occupied, let out, or unoccupied. It does not matter the type of tenant (for landlords), why the property is unoccupied or if the property is undergoing renovation.

Q. What about 'non-standard' risks?

A. Non standard risks will be reviewed on submission to underwriters. There is no automatic exclusion because of construction, claims, flood or subsidence history, however property owners who have shown more willing to undertake risk improvement measures since any incidents will probably be looked upon more favourably.

Q. What is the standard excess?

A. Customers can select a policy with a £75, £150, or £250 excess. A £350 escape of water excess applies  There is also a £1,000 excess for subsidence. There are no additional compulsory excesses.

Q. What happens if I am a landlord and the tenant moves out?

A. Full cover continues automatically for 31 days. After 31 days the landlord must advise us that the property is no longer occupied and then has a choice of either full cover or limited cover (at the appropriate rate) until the property is again occupied. Note that Full cover is the same as under a landlord's policy (save for contents in the garden) whereas limited cover has certain restrictions in cover.

Q. Do I need to hold any other insurance policies with SAGIC or B Portwood & Co Ltd?

A. No

Q. Can I insure more than one property on the same policy?

A. Currently: no. Each property will have to be insured on a different policy. However portfolios of 5 or more properties may be insured on a block basis.

Q. What administration fees are charged?

• We do not apply any administration/ policy fee for the initial payment.

• The insurance company will not make any charge or refund for amounts less than £5.00

• The insurance company will cancel the policy pro rata if no claims have occurred. If a claim has occurred then there will be no return premium on cancellation.

• We will make a £15.00 charge for processing any adjustments to a policy - this is waived for 'trivial' situations such as amending a spelling mistake.

• We will make a charge of £15.00 for processing the renewal of the policy.

• We will make a charge of £30.00 should a policy be cancelled after the 14 day 'cooling off' period.

• We will make a charge of £10.00 should a policy be cancelled during the 14 day 'cooling off' period.

• We will not request the difference should the return premium for cancelling a policy be less than our fee.

Q. Is malicious damage by tenant covered?

A. Yes - subject to a policy limit of £5,000.00: NB if damage was caused e.g. by fire then the claim is under the fire section of the policy (no limit), rather than the malicious damage section of the policy.

Q. Does the landlord have to live in the UK?

A. No. However all contracts are arranged under English Law and are deemed to have been arranged in England.

Q. Is Legal Expenses/ Rent Guarantee Cover Compulsory for landlords?

A. No. An optional legal expenses policy is available (£36.20). Policyholders who require rent guarantee cover as well as legal expenses insurance should contact us for a quotation as a separate policy has to be issued.

Q. Do I have to own the property?

A. We will accept contents only policies from tenants (covering their own contents) - the property does not have to be insured with us. We will also arrange policies under the house insurance where the building has been given to a sibling and the parent lives in it.

Q. Are there any specific security precautions required?

A. Normally - No. A discount is available under the contents section for property with a professional alarm system installed under a maintenance contract. If the property is unoccupied then cover is restricted unless there are 5-lever locks and window locks in place, the central heating drained or kept at 13C and the property inspected once a week.

Q. What about flat conversions?

A. No problem - providing cover is required for the whole building (not buildings cover for single flats)

Q. Bedsits?

A. No problem - the property must be declared as being bedsits and will be rated accordingly.

Q. Floods?

A. There is no automatic declinature for property in a flood area. Terms imposed will depend on location and past history as well as information on any flood prevention measures undertaken by Government and/ or the owner. Links are provided to the Environment Agency Website to assist the proposer in answering the questions regarding floods.

Q. Subsidence?

A. There is no automatic declinature for property that has previously suffered subsidence. Terms imposed will depend on what preventative measures have been taken since the subsidence e.g. underpinning, and if a suitable surveyor's report is available.

If there are any other queries, please e-mail bishop @ portwood.co.uk or call us on 01388 607140.