The insurance line on your service charge
Buildings insurance is usually one of the larger lines and one of the least discussed. It is also one of the easiest to compare, because it is a single figure for a single thing.
Two costs, not one
The premium is what the insurer is paid. Arranging the cover is work somebody does, and it may be charged separately or folded into the management fee.
When both appear as one figure, a rise in either is invisible. Ask for them apart.
What to look at
Whether the sum insured changed, and whether the premium moved by more than the cover did.
Whether the policy changed — insurer, excess, or what is covered. A cheaper premium with a higher excess is not straightforwardly cheaper.
Whether your share is calculated the same way as the rest of the charge. Some buildings apportion insurance differently.
Whether the figure includes anything besides buildings cover — terrorism, engineering inspection, directors' cover. These are legitimate and are worth naming.
What a statement cannot show you, and neither can we
A commission paid to a broker or an agent out of the premium does not appear on your service charge statement. It is inside a figure, not beside it.
Synclair reads the documents you hold. If something is not in them, it is not in the analysis — so if that is your question, it is one to put in writing rather than one to look for on the page.
One thing worth knowing before you ask
In England and Wales, leaseholders have rights set out in statute: to see the invoices and receipts behind the service charge, and to ask an independent body to decide whether a charge was reasonable.
This page does not explain how to use them, because that depends on your lease.
What this means if you stop paying
Do not stop paying while you query a charge.
Questioning whether a charge is fair and withholding payment are two different things. Under a lease, arrears can put your home at risk, and the sums involved do not have to be large. Keep paying, and put your questions in writing.
Where Synclair comes in
Synclair separates the insurance line from the rest of the charge, shows how it moved between years, and sets it against published figures rather than against a feeling.
One document is enough to start. It is free for three months, and the three months begin when your first analysis is ready — not when you sign up.
Check your own statement →