What Does Building Insurance Cover in a Flat?

In a leasehold flat, the building insurance is normally arranged by the freeholder or management company and covers the structure of the whole block, including your flat’s walls, roof and shared parts, with the cost recovered through your service charge. Your lease decides exactly who insures what. You usually still need your own contents insurance, and you should check whether improvements you have made to your flat are included.

Who insures the building when you own a flat?

GOV.UK says your landlord will usually be responsible for insurance of the building, not the contents, and that the cost is included in your service charge. In practice the “landlord” may be a private freeholder, a residents management company owned by the flat owners, or a right to manage company. Where a right to manage company has taken over, the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 says the landlord’s management functions become functions of the company, and those functions include insurance.

The lease is the document that decides this. Usually the lease says the landlord insures the building and the leaseholders contribute, but some older or unusual leases put the duty on each flat owner. Read the insurance clause and the service charge schedule in your lease before you assume anything.

What does the block policy usually cover?

A block policy covers the building as a whole, not individual flats one by one. What is included depends on the policy wording and on how the lease defines the building, but it can include the structure, roof, external walls, foundations and the common parts such as halls, stairs and lifts. The definition of each flat in the lease often decides whether internal items such as plaster, floorboards, kitchens and bathrooms fall within the building cover.

Check whether the block policy also includes property owners’ liability for injuries in the common parts. Our page on block of flats insurance explains how this cover is put together, and property owners liability insurance covers the liability side.

What should a leaseholder insure themselves?

Because the landlord usually insures the building but not the contents, most flat owners need contents insurance for their belongings. Three further points are worth checking:

• Improvements. If you have fitted a new kitchen, bathroom or flooring, ask whether the block policy rebuilds the flat to its original standard or to its current standard. If not, some contents policies include improvements cover, so check the wording.
• Liability as an occupier. Damage you cause to a neighbour’s flat, such as a leak from your washing machine, may be handled under the block policy or under your own contents policy, depending on the wording.
• Letting the flat. If you rent it out, you need landlord contents and liability cover, and you should tell the freeholder if the lease requires it. See landlord insurance explained.

Item	Who usually insures it	What decides it
Structure, roof, external walls	Freeholder or management company	The lease
Common parts and their liability	Freeholder or management company	The lease and block policy
Your belongings	You, through contents insurance	GOV.UK says the landlord insures the building, not the contents
Your improvements	Depends	The block policy wording and your contents policy
Summary of the block policy	Landlord must supply on written request	Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Schedule, within 21 days
Cost of the insurance	Recovered through the service charge	The lease; can be challenged at a tribunal

Can I see the building insurance policy?

Yes. The Schedule to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 gives tenants who pay a service charge for insurance a right to ask, in writing, for a written summary of the insurance. The landlord must supply it within 21 days of receiving the notice, and it must include the sum insured, the insurer’s name and the risks covered. You can also require reasonable facilities to inspect the policy and associated documents, again within 21 days, and inspection itself is free of charge.

The same Schedule lets a tenant notify the insurer directly of damage that may be covered, and if the policy’s notice period would run out sooner, it is treated as allowing six months from the tenant’s notice. This helps where a freeholder is slow to report a claim.

Since 31 December 2023, FCA rules have required insurers and brokers arranging multi occupancy buildings insurance to tell the policyholder to pass key information, including commission, on to leaseholders promptly and in full. If the firm knows a leaseholder has not received it, the firm must provide it directly.

Can I challenge the cost of building insurance?

GOV.UK says you can challenge the cost of the building insurance through a tribunal if you think it is unreasonable. You cannot apply if you have already agreed to pay the charge, if a court is already dealing with the dispute, or if you pay a fixed charge. Before going to a tribunal, ask for the summary of cover, the premium history and details of the quotes the broker obtained. Under the FCA rules, a firm must on request from a customer or a leaseholder give further details about the quotes it obtained.

Where your lease makes you insure with an insurer nominated by the landlord, the 1985 Act Schedule lets you apply to the county court or the appropriate tribunal if the insurance is unsatisfactory or the premiums are excessive.

What are the rules on landlord commissions?

The FCA found that broker commission on multi occupancy buildings insurance was usually at least 30%, and that the average amount of commission paid to freeholders and property managers more than doubled between 2016 and 2021. Its rules from 31 December 2023 require firms to treat leaseholders as customers when designing products, show that policies give fair value to leaseholders, and disclose the total commission the firm receives and any remuneration passed to third parties such as the freeholder.

The government has also used the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 to plan a change. It consulted from December 2024 to February 2025 on replacing commissions with a fair and transparent permitted insurance fee for landlords, freeholders and managing agents, and published its response on 11 July 2025. Secondary legislation will set out what is permitted, so check GOV.UK for whether those rules are in force when you read this.

Example. Sam owns a second floor flat in a block of twelve. Her service charge insurance contribution has gone up again, so she writes to the managing agent asking for a summary of cover under the 1985 Act. Within three weeks she receives the sum insured, insurer and covered risks, plus the commission disclosure the broker supplied under the FCA rules. She asks the broker for details of the quotes it obtained, finds the block was quoted by three insurers, and decides to raise the commission with the residents association before considering a tribunal.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need buildings insurance for a leasehold flat?

Usually not, because the freeholder or management company insures the building under the lease. Check the insurance clause in your lease to confirm. You do usually need contents insurance.

Who claims for a leak from the flat above?

Damage to the structure is normally claimed on the block policy through the freeholder or managing agent. Damage to your belongings is claimed on your contents insurance. Who pays the excess depends on the lease and the policy.

Is subsidence to a flat covered?

If the block policy covers subsidence, the claim is made on that policy by whoever insures the building. See does home insurance cover subsidence.

What if I own a share of the freehold?

Then you are one of the people responsible for arranging the cover. Our guide to freeholder building insurance covers the duty to insure, rebuild valuations and directors’ liability.

Can Solar Protect insure my block?

If you are a freeholder, residents management company or right to manage company, ask us for a quote on 01795 841 310, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. We will look for cover for the building and common parts.

More on property insurance. Ready for a price? Ask for a quote or call 01795 841 310.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Service charges and other expenses
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2002/15, section 96
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 1985/70
• FCA: Ps23 14
• FCA: Fca confirms leasehold buildings insurance reforms
• FCA: Report insurance multi occupancy buildings
• GOV.UK: Consultation on introducing permitted insurance fees for landlords freeholders a

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 6 November 2026. Solar Protect is the trading name of Solar Insurance Services (Medway) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This page is general information, not advice on your own circumstances.