Home insurance for landlords’ information
Some landlords rush into the renting process and don’t even stop to consider getting insurance. Or, even if they do, they may think it will affect their profit. This is a short-term view, as having no landlord insurance could end up costing you thousands in the long run.
Unfortunately, not all tenants are perfect. They could damage things, spill wine on the carpet or, even worse, leave the doors unlocked resulting in burglary. As well as human factors, your property could be damaged by the weather.
In either scenario, if you don’t have an insurance policy in place then you’ll need to pay to get things fixed. And this will only lead to increased bills.
So after all the hard work – the planning, advertising and negotiating - you’ll be left extremely disappointed with very little or even no return on your investment.
Making sure you get the right policy
Many landlords assume that landlord insurance is the same as residential policies, when it’s not. If you were to make a claim when you have a tenant occupying your property but you only have a standard insurance policy, then it’s likely that your claim will be rejected.
On some occasions landlords opt for standard insurance purely because they think specialist landlord insurance is too expensive for them when in fact, there can be little difference in the cost if you shop around. But you should view it as an investment, as it will more than pay for itself in the long run.
Different types of landlord insurance
After getting your head around the difference between standard home insurance and landlord insurance, you then need to know the different types of landlord insurance available and what it covers.
Buildings insurance – this protects you if say a flood or fire were to occur. It will cover all the rebuilding costs, therefore saving you a lot of money if something were to happen to the property.
Buy-to-let insurance – only covers a single property that has been bought with a buy-to-let mortgage (see our buy-to-let page for more information).
Multi-property insurance – covers two or more properties.
Contents insurance – this is crucial for protecting furnished properties that contain beds, sofas, kitchen appliances, TVs and other possessions you have provided. Landlord and tenant insurance are completely different as generally speaking, you are not liable for the loss, theft or damage of your tenants’ personal possessions – that is solely their responsibility to insure.
Liability insurance – injury claims have accelerated over the past few years, so this insurance is important for protecting yourself from an injury suffered on or in your property that you are not responsible for.
Loss of rent insurance – covers you if you are unable to rent out your property due to accidental damage. If you’ve purchased a property with a substantial mortgage then you will obviously rely on a consistent flow of rent to match the monthly repayments, otherwise you will risk losing the property.
We can put you in touch with someone who specialises in landlord insurance and can offer you an extremely competitive rate. All you have to do is contact us, or click here to get a quote yourself from GoCompare insurance comparison website.
