With over 25 years’ experience of the hazards of listed property ownership, The Listed Property Owners’ Club has first-hand knowledge of the complexities involved when choosing the correct insurance for your home. Your home is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make, and when that home is listed you need to take extra care to ensure that it is properly insured.

The Club has created A Guide to Insuring Your Listed Property to provide insight into what to look for when choosing a policy. Free printed copies are available by calling the Club on 01795 844939.

Further information on what to look out for in your listed building insurance policy, please click here.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to an expert please look at the insurance page of our website or call the Club on 01795 844939 and we will pass you onto the insurance team.

As far as insurance goes there is one vital fact that makes listed buildings unique. With a non-listed building in the eventuality of say, a fire, there will be an insurance claim which would involve the owner and the insurer, probably a loss adjuster, who between them will agree how the building will be re-instated, how much it will cost etc.

With a listed building in the above situation it will be an entirely different scenario. It is the local council’s conservation officer (or in the case of Grade I or Grade II*, Historic England) who may well decide if it is to be rebuilt, how it is to be rebuilt, which materials and which methods are used. They have no interest in how much it is going to cost or who pays but they have the backing of law to ensure the building is re-instated to its previous condition.

It is therefore vital that appropriate cover is provided. Remember work on these buildings using traditional materials and skills will normally be more expensive.

For some, home insurance is something to be bought as quickly and cheaply as possible without giving much thought to the realities of the cover or to what happens if you need to make a claim. Most mainstream home insurance policies are designed around a broad, “one size fits all” approach which provide cover for buildings of ‘standard’ construction – from the outset this means that such insurance can be unsuitable for listed buildings as few fall into this category.

Insurance of listed buildings is very specialised and has to incorporate considerations way beyond the requirements of an “ordinary” home. Unauthorised work by previous owners, the demands of your conservation officer, specialist planning needs – they all figure in the selection of a suitable policy.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to an expert please look at the insurance page of our website or call the Club on 01795 844939 and we will pass you onto the insurance team.