Heritage Mixed-Use with Hospitality Tenancy

The owner of a heritage-listed mixed-use building in Sydney's Inner West came to us without any insurance in place. The building, constructed in the 1920s, had a cafe operating on the ground floor with residential tenancies above.

They'd approached multiple insurers and brokers before reaching us. Eight had declined outright. The combination of heritage construction, a hospitality tenant with a commercial kitchen, and the building's age made this a risk that standard insurers wouldn't touch.

Being uninsured wasn't an option. The building represented a significant asset, and the cafe tenancy introduced fire and liability exposures that needed proper cover.

We started with a full risk assessment of the building. Heritage buildings have specific underwriting considerations - original construction materials, fire separation between commercial and residential sections, and the cost of heritage-compliant repairs if something goes wrong.

Our approach focused on:

• Detailed risk presentation: We documented the cafe's fire safety measures, extraction systems, and cooking equipment in detail for underwriters
• Heritage valuation: We ensured the sum insured reflected heritage rebuild costs, not just standard construction rates
• Specialist market access: We approached underwriting agencies with specific appetite for heritage mixed-use risks

The key was presenting the risk properly. A one-page application form doesn't do these buildings justice. We put together a comprehensive submission that gave underwriters enough confidence to quote.

Heritage buildings are inherently harder to insure. The 1920s construction means original materials, potentially non-standard wiring, and rebuild costs that are significantly higher than modern buildings due to heritage compliance requirements.

The cafe tenancy compounded things. Commercial kitchens represent an elevated fire risk, and when that risk sits directly below residential tenancies in a heritage building, most underwriters step away.

The owner had received one quote from another insurer at around $45,500 - which was commercially unviable. They needed competitive terms, not just any terms.

We placed cover through a specialist underwriting agency at approximately $15,400 annual premium.

The owner went from being completely uninsured - after 8 declines - to having comprehensive cover at a premium that made commercial sense. That's the difference specialist market access makes for mixed-use properties.