Landlord insurance in Sherborne

Sherborne is a mellow Dorset abbey town of honey-coloured stone and, in its surrounding villages, a scattering of thatched cottages let as homes and holiday accommodation. Thatch gives a property its charm and its single most serious risk: fire.

Where the risks come from for Sherborne landlords

A thatched roof is beautiful and highly combustible, and a chimney fire, an ember or faulty wiring can set the thatch alight and destroy a cottage with frightening speed. Insurers treat thatch as a specialist, high-hazard risk, with strict conditions on chimneys, wiring and heating.

A Sherborne example

A chimney fire ignites the thatch on a Sherborne cottage let, and the roof is well alight before the brigade arrives, causing extensive fire and water damage. Because the property was insured on a proper thatch basis, with the fire-safety conditions met, the substantial rebuild is covered rather than contested.

What landlord insurance covers

A thatched let must be insured specifically as thatch, with a rebuild figure reflecting traditional roofing and the insurer's conditions on chimneys, sweeping and electrics observed. On that basis the fire and other perils, property owners' liability and loss of rent respond as they should.

Placing it in Sherborne with Apex

Thatch is a specialist placement, and putting it with the wrong insurer, or understating the roof, is asking for trouble. Apex arranges Sherborne's thatched and period lets with insurers who understand them, through one broker. Authorised by the FCA; established 2009.

Related

• Commercial property insurance Sherborne
• Business insurance Sherborne
• Public liability insurance Sherborne