Not the slightest bit Monzo related, but could use the advise of insurance/financially savvy people who frequent this forum! Will make a tenuous link to Monzo somewhere in the post.
My girlfriend and I bought a flat 9 months ago, which is a loft conversion of a period property/terraced house in London, with two other newly renovated flats below.
As a collective, with share of freehold, we took out buildings insurance for the whole property under the Ground Floor flats name. My girlfriend and I have not yet taken out contents insurance (holding out for Monzo Plus), being a loft flat (no risk of burglary), with all new white goods, still under warranty, we did not think we would need it urgently…
Last Saturday in the hot weather, while we were away on holiday, our loft flat got so warm that our sprinkler system went off, and flooded our flat, but also caused some water damage to the two flats downstairs.
Having got over the irony that the sprinkler system required for insurance purposes is the one thing that’s caused damage to the flat, we’re now trying to work out next steps.
Luckily, most of the contents have escaped with minimal damage, however, the main damage is to the floors and walls, throughout the building. I would have thought floors and walls would be covered by Buildings insurance, however, our provider says this covers exterior walls only. The insurance does cover water damage from a burst pipe, however we have not spoken to them directly, only via GF flat whose name it is under.
I’m sure contents insurance would not cover walls and floors?
Being relatively new to all of this I suppose my questions/what I’m asking for advice on are:
Is there another type of insurance for homes in addition to Buildings and Contents?
What sort of insurance to I need to protect against something as bonkers as this happening again?
Would buildings insurance usually cover this - do we just have a rubbish policy, or should we be pushing the insurers harder via the GF Flat?
Again, apologies for the non-Monzo related post - just feeling a bit miffed about what to do, but more than anything I wouldn’t be surprised if this happens again when it next gets hot. Ironically disabling the sprinklers would invalidate the buildings insurance