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Home insurance for very old buildings

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  1. #1

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    Dec 2010
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    Home insurance for very old buildings

    I'm renting a flat in a building which is close to 70 years old. I'm trying to buy some home contents insurance, and I've now contacted a few insurers which all flat out refused to insure me as my building is over 40 years old. Am I out of luck, or do some insurers accept older buildings?

    I also noticed that the insurers increased the excess sharply with the age of the building, for example one insurer I've seen has an excess of only 500$ for any claim in a building which less than 30 years old, which rose to 3000$ for buildings over 30 and then 5000$ for buildings over 35 (and they didn't insure any building over 40). So even if there are insurers that cover older buildings, do they make the premiums and the excesses so high that their product is essentially worthless?

    Thanks for your advice!


  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by evalf:
    I'm renting a flat in a building which is close to 70 years old. I'm trying to buy some home contents insurance, and I've now contacted a few insurers which all flat out refused to insure me as my building is over 40 years old. Am I out of luck, or do some insurers accept older buildings?

    I also noticed that the insurers increased the excess sharply with the age of the building, for example one insurer I've seen has an excess of only 500$ for any claim in a building which less than 30 years old, which rose to 3000$ for buildings over 30 and then 5000$ for buildings over 35 (and they didn't insure any building over 40). So even if there are insurers that cover older buildings, do they make the premiums and the excesses so high that their product is essentially worthless?

    Thanks for your advice!
    first thing first, US$ or HK$? HK$5000 excess for HK$234,000 (US$30,000) of household contents is not excessive, presume that the excess is higher due to less security on older buildings, ie, walk up tenement buildings

    I have seen HK$12000 excess for inexperienced /young drivers on car insurance, though the car is not worth more than HK$60000

    Have u tried the expat orientated insurers?

  3. #3

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    All the figures I quoted were HKD. Do you have any examples of expat oriented insurers? So far I've checked AXA, AIA and a couple of banks.


  4. #4

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    quickquoter hk QuickQuoters
    Direct Asia
    Kwiksure

    are examples of expat orientated insurers

    Tom007 likes this.

  5. #5

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    Dec 2010
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    Thanks imparanoic. I had checked kwiksure already, they resell AXA and MSIG, both of which will not insure buildings over 40 years old. Quickquoters have a checkbox for low or high rise, which cannot be checked for low rise, so it is either a glitch in their website, in which case I'm not overly keen to deal with them, or it means they only insure appartments in high rise buildings (my flat is in a low rise). Also when going in the payment section their site just crashes. Direct Asia do not do any home insurance.

    Can anyone advise a specific insurer which would accept to cover me? I'd be interrested in having some feedback from people who have been in a similar situation as me. Also I forgot to mention, my building is a Tong Lau and I'm living at the top floor, so I can imagine that insurers would be even more wary of insurring me which all the water damage potential from the roof.

    Thanks!


  6. #6

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    May 2010
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    are you for home contents insurance? like
    https://www.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/hk/insurance/home

    i have mine with hang seng bank. its less than $500 premium a year for my 46 years old apartment. they've never asked for the age of the building. the link above can get you an instant offer.


  7. #7

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    Dec 2010
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    Thanks for your reply dumbdonkey. Either the terms and contitions have changed lately, or you may be in for a nasty surprise when you try to make a claim with Hang Seng. I went to their website, and while they don't explicitely ask for the building age, when you look at the fine print it says:

    I further declare that:
    4. The age of dwelling is not exceeding 30 years old.
    https://bank.hangseng.com/1/2/person...e-declarations

    I also checked HSBC and they have a similar condition:
    I/We further declare that:
    (iii) My/Our home is in a permanent residential building which is already constructed and less than 40 years of age, or will be constructed by the Policy Effective Date.
    https://www.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/hk/insurance/tc#home

    And Citibank requires special underwriting:
    Underwriting Information
    Could all the properties be insured regardless of the age of property, number of floors or gross area?
    This policy would accept residential premises which are built of bricks, stone or concrete for insurance. Special underwriting is required if the age of property is over 35 years or it is a House or village house.
    Ideal Home Plan - Citibank Hongkong

    I checked the website of Citibank's underwriter, Zurich, and they also require a custom quote over the phone for buildings over 35 years old. I haven't had the chance to call them yet.

    So it appears than insuring older buildings is trickier than it seems. I'll check with Zurich if they can insure my flat over the next few days and report here with my findings. In the meanwhile I'd be very interrested in reading about others' experiences with this issue.
    TheBrit likes this.

  8. #8

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    I've just got Zurich's reply, they also refuse to insure a building that old. I've checked a few more insurers and they all have clauses excluding buildings over 40 years old.

    The one thing that worries me the most is the third party liability isurance. If I can't get contents insurance I'd like to get the third party liability insurance separately, however I've looked at the websites of a few insurers and it seems like it's always sold as a package with home insurance. Does anyone know if it is possible at all to get it separately? Thanks!


  9. #9

    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    Hi Evalf,
    I am currently on the same quest as you were one year ago. My building is more than 40 years old as well. Did you finally managed to find an insurance?

    Thanks!


  10. #10

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    Dec 2010
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    Unfortunately I didn't find an insurer and gave up after a while. I've been touching wood hoping for nothing bad to happen ever since. Let me know if you manage to find something.


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