Last week, Quadra’s Director Simon Jones, chaired an interesting Insurance Institute of London lecture – ‘Exploring the Managing Agent’s role in property insurance – poacher or gamekeeper?’, featuring industry expert Paul Robertson. It was an enlightening session, and for those who were unable to attended we’ve got the highlights here.
Exploring the Managing Agent’s role in property insurance
The talk, hosted in The Old Library at Lloyd’s, discussed at length the role of Managing Agents, how they are bound by landlord and tenant law, and how this differs from general insurance principles.
Typically, we have seen a misconception that Managing Agents are responsible for causing or exaggerating claims by their actions or inactions. It arises the question within the industry of what their role should truly entail.
Above all, they are the key liaison and albeit a useful resource for those who wish to rent a property or estate. However, when it comes to insurance claims, Robertson believes they are not there to manage and that they must account to the lease, having no rights beyond the door.
If they are at all to be tasked with undertaking legal responsibilities, agents must ensure adequate professional indemnity insurance.
Managing Agents are in a difficult position when it comes to property insurance – not only are they bound by landlord and tenant law, but they must also act within the requirements of a leasehold framework, potentially putting them against their insurance principles.
The lecture also explored some real-life scenarios of how Managing Agents face these dilemmas, taking a closer look at how they may be unable to comply with the obligations within both a property policy imposed on the policyholder, and that which the Managing Agent is expected to control.
Examples covered fire insurance, explosions, un-occupancies, subletting, including specific case examples.
Our Director, Simon Jones, who chaired the event, commented:
“Paul provided a thought-provoking talk which highlighted how technical this area of law and application really is. At Quadra, we have long recognised the specialist nature of real estate insurance claims, particularly those arising from residential property portfolios. We have a dedicated team of experienced loss adjusters at our disposal who manage these claims, which are often quite complex.”
Paul is the Managing Director of Midway Insurance Services and 1st Sure Flats, and has spent nearly two decades in the field, specialising in residential property owners insurance. Not only is he considered an expert in the insurance of blocks of flats, he has also authored the industry publication ‘Robertson’s Insurance Principles for Leasehold Flats’. Paul has a clear passion for the industry and provided some meaningful and interesting topics for discussion during the lecture. He commented:
“It was a privilege to be invited by Simon to speak at this event. I was delighted by the response that I received from the audience during the question and answer session in particular – some very insightful questions which carried the discussion even further. It’s excellent to see people’s enthusiasm for the topic and be able to impart my knowledge on the wider market.”
Thank you to all those who attended the event and for the institute for inviting Simon to be a part of the insightful and educational event.
If any of these points inspire questions, then feel free to reach out to us. Here at Quadra, we carry out a wide range of loss adjusting and claims management services, across various technical areas. If you’re interested in Property claims then we’d be happy to discuss these with you.
Contact Us
