Thursday 7th July 2022
If you live in Service Family Accommodation and do not have Licence to Occupy Insurance, this article is worth a read.
Did you know, as the Licensee for the SFA, you are required to have sufficient Licence to Occupy Insurance to cover the cost of repairs if the SFA is damaged by action attributable to you? This specialist insurance will cover up to £20,000.00 if you were found to be culpable.
Whilst there are probably only a handful of cases cases per year, it is likely you would not want to be confronted with a large bill.
What does Licence to Occupy Insurance cover?
The cost of rebuilding an SFA could be in the order of hundreds of thousands of pounds for which your policy would only be expected to cover the first £20,000.00, unless the damage was maliciously or deliberately caused – criminal damage.
Do I really need it?
It is accepted that any insurance to do with properties can be an additional outgoing however the Licence to Occupy insurance is one that you should not ignore – for your peace of mind.
Who provides Licence to Occupy cover?
Whilst there are hundreds of home (contents) and property (buildings) insurers, few offer ‘Licence to Occupy Insurance’. However, there is an approved list of those providing this insurance on the Services Insurance Investments and Advisory Panel (SIIAP) website.
Once you have made contact with an insurance provider you must ensure and confirm that they cover the terms and conditions of the DIO Licence to Occupy Insurance.
Does Licence to Occupy also cover contents?
Contents Insurance is separate to Licence to Occupy Insurance. It is strongly advisable to ensure that your household contents and personal belongings are also insured.
It is possible that some insurance providers will provide a combined package, so you must ask.
Further information and the DIO policy can be found in the JSP 464 at paragraph 0605.
Contact the Support & Outreach Team
If you need help with your service accommodation contact us online in the first instance. We have two housing experts on the team who can provide advice and guidance.
More information on Housing
As well as the Housing and Accommodation section of the website, we also share a weekly roundup in our eBulletin and/ our quarterly Envoy magazine – sign up and keep yourself up to date with the latest information.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
