It is unrealistic for each apartment owner to insure his or her own apartment against fire, for example. Firstly, what would they cover seeing that they only own the plaster on the walls and the screed on the floor and the underside of the ceiling? Secondly, it would be very cumbersome having several policies. Thirdly, what would happen if somebody didn’t maintain his or her insurance?

The Management Company arrange for a policy to be put in place to cover all the structural parts of the apartment block that have not been sold to any individual or are not for sale to any individual and their external common areas. This is known as Block Policy Insurance.

The builder arranges for this policy to be put in place in the first instance and when the builder has sold the last apartment the Management Company takes over this policy. The policy notes the interest of each individual purchaser and of that purchaser’s lending institution.

Each individual apartment owner should arrange their own separate insurance cover in respect of their own personal contents. If an apartment owner is renting an apartment, then the apartment owner should put in place a landlord’s policy to cover any risk that might arise by reason of the fact that the apartment is let out.