Buildings Insurance

What is the insurance charge?

Under the terms of your lease Erimus has responsibility for providing buildings insurance for your home. Buildings insurance is currently provided by Zurich Municipal. Erimus Housing insures your property and recovers the cost through your service charge.

The policy covers the exterior and structure of the building (plus common parts in the case of flats) and some internal fixtures. A buildings insurance summary of cover and policy is available on request. Alternatively we will provide these documents to you each year with your annual insurance charge.

The insurance in place does not cover furniture and personal effects and we strongly recommend you purchase household contents cover for these items.

We will advise you of the sum insured, which is the amount it would cost to rebuild your property in the event of total loss or destruction at the start of your policy and advise you of the revised figure annually. We will ensure that the value is adjusted annually for inflation, to ensure your value remains accurate for your property.

The benefits of Erimus Housing arranging this insurance are that:

• All leaseholders have adequate insurance to protect all tenants in the building
• Erimus Housing can usually obtain lower rates of insurance than those available elsewhere

Understanding what you are covered for:

The summary of cover provides a summary of significant features, benefits and limitations of the insurance cover.

MAKING A CLAIM

We hope you never have to make a claim, but if you do we aim to make it as easy as possible. You can ring 08000 461 600 and request a buildings insurance claim form. We will despatch the form to you, having completed the details about your policy number and the date your insurance started. We will also sign to confirm you have insurance cover.

If you need further advice in completing your claim form you can ring our contact centre on the above number, where we will be happy to assist you.

Once you have completed the claim form you should return this to the address as stated below:-

Zurich Municipal
Property Claims Unit
PO Box 108
Farnborough
GU14 0XQ
FAX: 0845 6000083
TEL: 0870 2418050
EMAIL: zmpropertyclaims@uk.zurich.com

If you have any queries once you have completed and returned the claim form please contact Zurich Municipal directly. Please ensure that you quote the full policy number in all communications with them. This will be on the claim form we provide and on our renewal correspondence.

You may need to supply two estimates for any repairs when submitting your claim (as requested on the claim form).

Zurich Municipal will contact you within 10 working days once they receive your claim form.

Emergencies Out of Office Hours

A useful emergency contact number is provided if you require urgent assistance in dealing with a home emergency. This number connects to a national database of vetted and approved contractors. They will identify the closest local contractor and arrange for them to assist.

You may need emergency assistance in dealing with a crisis such as a flood, burst pipe, storm or securing doors and windows. Zurich provides a 24 hour emergency repair service on 0800 028 0336.

Please note that you will be charged by the tradesman / contractor for the work undertaken in the first instance. If the damage is covered by your buildings insurance policy Zurich Municipal will reimburse you for the cost of work.

What if my property is sublet?

If you are subletting your home this affects the insurance cover in place. You should notify Erimus Housing if you sublet your home.

If you need to make a claim, and you have not told us the property is sub-let your insurance claim may be affected.

QUALITY AND VALUE OF YOUR INSURANCE

We will regularly review the quality of the insurance cover and cost to ensure it provides value for money. We will consult with you on any changes we propose regarding the insurance provider.

CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES

It is important that some changes in your circumstances are reported as they may affect your insurance. We will write to you every year to remind you of changes you should tell us about. An example of this would be the property being sub-let or improvements / alterations to the property.

CONTENTS INSURANCE

Erimus Housing can provide you with a contents insurance service and we strongly advise you to have this policy in place either with ourselves or an insurance company of your choice. To arrange your contents insurance via Erimus Housing please call out Contact Centre on 08000 461 600.