Landlords, Are You Insured?

If you are thinking of renting out a property, landlord insurance is essential. Landlord insurance helps to make your tenants feel secure as they can be safe in the knowledge that their welfare is being considered by their landlord. Furthermore, it helps you to feel protected against any unexpected problems at your investment property, whether you are near or far away.

Most of all, you need to protect your investment. It is important that you find an insurance provider offering you a tailor-made Landlord insurance package because standard insurance policies may not cover your property against all risks associated with rental properties.

Types of insurance explained

Buildings Insurance – This type of insurance covers the structure of your building, insuring it for the cost of repair or rebuild against most types of risks, for example, flood or fire. Having buildings insurance helps to give you peace of mind that your investment will be safe in years to come. In the event of unforeseen disasters at your property, being uninsured could pose a costly danger.

Contents Insurance – Contents cover will protect your personal items in the property, such as furnishings and appliances, in the event of loss or damage. But surely tenants should insure their own contents, we hear your cry. Yes – but tenant’s contents insurance will only cover their own belongings, which could leave you out of pocket should there be a break in or damage to items during the tenancy.

Landlord’s Liability Insurance – Landlord’s liability cover is designed to ease any concerns you may have about tenants accidentally injuring themselves in your property and/or for loss or damage of a tenant’s belongings where the landlord is found to be at fault. Where claims such as these go to court, it can end up with landlords facing pay outs of five- and six-figure sums. It’s easy to see why liability insurance is the financially friendly option in the long run – plus it helps both you and your tenants to feel safe and secure during a tenancy.

Loss of Rent Insurance – If your property is unfortunate enough to fall foul of an unforeseen emergency, such as a flood or fire, for example, then the chances are that your property will be uninhabitable for what could be an extended period of time. How do you cover your losses in such an event? Loss of Rent insurance can ensure that alternative accommodation for your tenants is paid for and can even pay you a percentage of your expected rental income should a tenancy be unable to commence due to unforeseen circumstances.

Rent Guarantee Insurance – It’s rent collection time but your tenants, despite having signed a legal tenancy agreement, fail to pay up. How do you handle this situation? Simply accept your tenant’s breach of the lease agreement, incurring huge personal losses and negating the financial benefits of renting your property? Or do you go round to the property and confront the tenants and risk facing a potentially impossible situation? With Rent Guarantee insurance, you can ensure that you will still receive rental income even if your tenants default, helping to minimise financial hardship to yourself and helping you to continue to pay mortgages or fees associated with the property. This is the ultimate peace-of-mind landlord insurance, making sure that your investment continues to work for you no matter the circumstances of the tenancy.

Landlord insurance quotations are quick and easy to obtain and for the sake of a few pounds and a few minutes of your time, you can ensure that your property is a safe place to own and to live.

Your lettings agent should be able to advise you on Landlord and Buy-to-let Insurance, helping you to get the right deal at the best price. Here at Julie Twist Properties, we can assist in finding the right insurance for you to cover buildings, contents, landlord’s liability and even rental payments. To find out more, simply contact us.

You can find more tips and advice on being a landlord with our guide to choosing tenants here: Landlords: Choose Your Tenants Wisely