Declined for Commercial Property Insurance? We Place the Hard Ones.

A decline usually reflects one insurer's appetite at that moment, not the whole market. It can happen when the building sits in a flood or catastrophe zone, the property is vacant, the tenant mix sits outside standard appetite (food, mechanics, tobacconists), the construction includes EPS or combustible cladding, there is a claims history, the insurer is exiting your class or region, or the sum insured needs work. A specialist property market can view the same building very differently.

Often, yes. A decline or non-renewal from one insurer is not the market's verdict on your building. We map the specialist property underwriters with genuine appetite for the risk, present the submission the way they need to see it, and compare terms. Many of the buildings we place have been declined elsewhere first.

Flood exposure narrows the field, but it rarely closes it. Specialist property underwriters - and ISR policies - still write flood-zone buildings when the risk is presented properly. See our flood-zone commercial property cover page, then send us the address and the declines so we can approach the markets that still offer flood.

Most mainstream insurers will not write a vacant commercial building because of the increased risk of damage, vandalism and liability. Cover is still available through specialist underwriters, often on a shorter term and with conditions like regular inspections while you re-tenant. See our vacant commercial property cover page for how we place these.

You generally need to disclose previous declines, and they can shape how underwriters view the risk. The right move is to place cover properly with a market that wants the building, rather than collecting further declines from insurers that were never going to write it - which is exactly what specialist property broking is for.

It depends on the complexity of the building, but straightforward risks can often be quoted within a few days once we have the schedule and supporting detail. If you have a renewal or settlement deadline, tell us the date and we will prioritise the markets most likely to respond in time.