Maisonette insurance is complicated by geometry. A maisonette is usually half a converted house, sharing a roof, walls and foundations with the other half, and no insurer can sensibly settle a claim on half a structure. The right arrangement is whole building cover, and how that is achieved depends on the leases.
Whole building cover, arranged three ways
A freeholder insures the building and recharges both maisonettes. The two owners jointly hold the freehold and insure it through a company or jointly. Or, less happily, each lease requires its own leaseholder to insure their part, which produces apportionment arguments and which many lenders will not accept.
What an individual owner buys
Where the building is insured as a whole, the maisonette owner buys contents, their own liability, and, if letting, landlord contents, loss of rent and tenant damage. Where each owner insures their own part, a buildings section is needed and the insurer must be told the property is half a building.
Where disputes arise
A leaking roof over one maisonette that damages the other. A claim where one owner is insured and the other is not. A sale held up because the buyer's conveyancer cannot see whole building cover. All three are avoided by a single policy over the whole structure, which is why it is worth the conversation with the other owner.
Questions people ask about maisonette insurance
Can a maisonette be insured separately?
It can be written that way and it causes problems. Damage does not stop at the boundary and lenders generally expect whole building cover.
Who arranges the policy?
The freeholder, or the two owners jointly where they hold the freehold. Where each lease requires separate cover, a joint policy by agreement is the usual fix.
What do I buy if the building is insured as a whole?
Contents and your own liability, plus landlord contents, loss of rent and tenant damage if you let it.