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South Tyneside Homes

South Tyneside Homes Putting housing at the heart of South Tyneside Contact us - South Tyneside Homes 0191 423 4000 Fix it 0800 694 6900
Breadcrumbs

Insurance

What does the building insurance policy cover?

The building insurance covers the parts of the building which are the council’s responsibility to maintain. These include the structure, the outside, the shared areas inside and the services and installations of the block. The fixtures and fittings within your property are also covered by the buildings insurance.

Examples of fixtures and fittings are:

  • Floorboards
  • Doors
  • Window glass
  • Bathroom and kitchen fittings
  • Decorations
  • The plaster on the walls and ceilings in your flat.

The buildings insurance policy covers damage caused by:

  • Fire, smoke, explosion, lightning or earthquake
  • Riot, civil commotion or malicious damage
  • Being hit by an aircraft, an animal or a vehicle
  • Storm or flood
  • Water or oil leaking
  • Damage caused by falling trees or branches or TV or radio aerials collapsing
  • Theft or attempted theft
  • Subsidence, ground heave or landslide

If your mortgage company needs a copy of the buildings insurance policy, we can give you a document summarising the cover.

What is the excess on the policy?

The policy we have in place includes an excess amount of £1000 for subsidence. This means the insurers will only pay costs above £1000 for claims for damage from subsidence. Contents insurance provides cover for all of the moveable items that make up your home, for example, furniture, clothing, carpets and so on. This type of insurance is completely separate from the buildings insurance mentioned above. You do not have to have contents insurance, although we strongly advise you to do so. Contents insurance would also provide cover for tenant liabilities such as a flood from your property damaging another property. We have an arrangement with the Royal & Sun Alliance insurance company. If you are interested, please contact us. If you do not take out contents insurance, you may find that there are things that you want to make a claim for but that the buildings insurance policy does not cover and you will not be able to make any claim.

Making a claim

If your home is damaged and you want to make a claim on the insurance, you should ring the council’s Insurance Section on 0191 424 7653/7654. After confirming that the claim is eligible, the claims handlers will instruct a contractor to carry out a repair. If there is a lot of damage, the council will appoint loss adjusters to oversee any temporary work needed. You will be responsible for paying your share of the policy excess.

 

For more information on your lease and your rights as a leaseholder, please see section 6 of the Leaseholder Handbook