Leasehold Buildings Insurance

[OllieN]

A mate of mine lives in a leasehold flat. The management company appears to have disappeared into the blue yonder with everyone denying all knowledge of it's existance.

The freehold has recently been bought by a new owner who seems good as gold, the old one was a complete waste of space by all accounts.

My question is who is responsible for organising buildings insurance?

The flat owners have not paid any maintenance for the last year as no maintenance was being done and now everyone (including the solicitors to who they were supposed to pay the cheque) deny all knowledge of the mgt company. So they have a concern that there is no buildings insurance in place.

My experience has always been that the Mgt Co sort out buildings insurance but in a case like this where it has gone AWOL who's responsibility is it to sort things out , the Freeholder or the leaseholders?

Any views

 

[Static]

I believe its the freeholders job to make sure the management company does its job, if its isnt get a new management company, i believe you only need to give the old company 1 months notice.

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

My question is who is responsible for organising buildings insurance?

The responsibility for insuring the property will be written in the lease. Usually it is the freeholder's responsibility but there are somer leases where this task of providing insurance falls collectively to the leaseholders; it will then be incumbent upon them to provide a copy of the insurance schedule to the freeholder.

I would be rather concerned about the selling of the freehold, even if the new party is, as you say, as good as gold. Were leaseholders aware that the sale was going ahead? Does he not realise that generally there exists the right to buy the freehold under the Leasehold Enfranchisement Act (1993). There are some exclusions, of course, but this should have been investigated before a new owner came along. It is just possible that the sale was conducted illegally.

 

[noodlz]

I tend to agree with the chainsaw masochist, I wouldn't want to disagree with one really , but your friend shouldn't be so quick to think the new managing agents are as good as they might appear, unfortunately, there are lots of rip-off merchants about. There is even the possibility that the new managing agent may be the old managing agent in another guise....don't be surprised about anything in the murky world of leaseholds, managing agents and freeholders.

Get him to contact a governmental organisation called LEASE, the Leasehold Advisory Service, which provide free advice to leaseholders:

http://www.lease-advice.org/main.htm

It really is high time they did away with this outmoded form of ownership and management...it belongs to a time of landowners and serfs where freeholders and managing agents bleed leaseholders dry, often don't provide even adequate service and the leaseholders don't even own their flats!

Can you tell I'm not a fan

If he really wants the block run well, get him to get as many of the leaseholders together for a strong, united tenancy association to keep tabs on the managing agent (and freeholder, especially if they're essentially the same or in cahoots!)

 

[Nige F]

Better still get the required number of leaseholders together..........either one third or threequarters........and force the freeholder to sell to them A mate of mine did just that