Don’t let under-insurance come back to haunt you this Halloween

With Halloween just around the corner, ghostly inhabitants might not be the only shock in store for the owners of listed buildings if they are inadequately insured, says leading rural insurer NFU Mutual.

A survey into the pros and cons of listed building ownership, conducted by NFU Mutual, revealed that 37% of people were not aware higher insurance cover was needed for listed buildings than for non-listed houses of a similar size.

Explaining the importance of specialist cover, Luke Lockhart, Valuations Services Manager at leading lost adjuster Cunningham Lindsey, said: "While owners of listed buildings are well aware of the costs involved in maintaining such a property, many are often surprised by the extra costs of putting right damage caused by a flood, fire or subsidence.

"Rebuilding costs for these types of buildings are high for a number of reasons -replacement materials may need to be handmade, specialist craftsmen are often required to carry out specialist repairs and extra fees for professionals, such as architects and surveyors may have to be funded.

"Listed buildings are also subject to very strict planning controls and owners need to have local authority approval for many repairs or alterations."

The contents of historic properties might also require specialist valuation in order to ensure they are adequately covered. It's estimated that almost 17 million homes in the UK could be under-insured because people do not know the real value of their possessions.

With more than 300 local offices throughout the UK, NFU Mutual looks after the insurance needs of many old and historic buildings. When the insurer asked its Agents to nominate the most haunted property they insure, there was no shortage of entries.

NFU Mutual's most haunted property:

Skaill House, Orkney

Skaill House was built for Bishop George Graham in 1620 and the southern wing of the house stands on an early Norse burial ground. The current Laird, members of staff and the public have all reported spooky experiences and guests staying in the holiday apartments have reported several incidences of objects being moved around without explanation - in one case the object was seen to move on its own.

Guests and members of staff have also reported many strange sounds, doors opening and closing of their own accord and even unexplained smells, such a cigarette smoke, the source of which could not be found.