Landlord Insurance

While we don’t believe in a one-size fits all approach to insurance protection, there are some core elements that you should look to include in your landlord insurance policy, such as:

• Buildings insurance – provides protection should the property be accidentally damaged by risks such as fire or flood.  Most mortgage lenders will insist you take out buildings insurance unless you own the property on a leasehold basis, in which case your lease owner or management company may already have it.  
  
  You also need to make sure that your building is covered for the rebuild costs.  This is not its market valuation, but the amount it would cost to rebuild the property should it be destroyed.   An alarming number of UK properties have rebuild costs that are too low, leaving their owners at risk of significant losses should the worst happen.If you’d like some advice regarding rebuild costs, then please call Trisure on (01733) 777799 and our team of specialists will be only too happy to help.
  
  
• Landlord’s liability – if one of your tenants or a  visitor suffers injury or damage to their possessions due to a fault with your property, you could be held liable.  A successful compensation claim could be crippling, but with landlord’s liability insurance, you’ll be protected
  
  
• Loss of rent – what would happen if you were unable to collect the rent owing to your property becoming uninhabitable?   With the loss of rent cover, you will be able to claim all or a portion of the lost rent should this happen.  You may even be able to claim for the cost of providing alternative accommodation for tenants while the property is made habitable
  
  Please note: loss of rent will not reimburse you should your clients fail to pay the rent.  For that, you’d need tenant default insurance.  See below.
  
  
• Tenant default insurance – what would happen if your tenants couldn’t or wouldn’t pay you?  The mortgage and other bills will keep coming in, and you could soon find yourself experiencing financial difficulties.  If you have tenant default cover as part of your policy, you’ll be covered for up to eight months’ lost rent if tenants fail to pay for two consecutive months.  Take out a tenant default option, and you’ll usually get landlord legal expenses cover too.  Landlord legal expenses protection covers property-related legal fees up to £50,000, including legal action to repossess the property or pursue unpaid rent
  
  
• Alternative accommodation – suppose you’re unlucky enough to have a fire and your rental property is rendered uninhabitable; what then?  Your tenants need somewhere to live, and if you’re contractually obliged to provide alternative accommodation should the property become uninhabitable, you could be facing a hefty bill.  If you have alternative accommodation cover as part of your policy, then the cost of providing somewhere else for them to stay will be covered
  
  
• Contents insurance – gives you protection for the contents of your property should they be damaged or destroyed.  Landlord’s contents insurance makes sense if your property is being let on a partially or fully-furnished basis
  
  Please note: this will not include your tenants’ possessions; they will need to take out their own contents insurance policy for that
  
  
• Unoccupied property insurance – there may be times when your property is left empty.  You may be between tenants, or the property is undergoing renovation.  Many standard landlord policies will not cover you if the building is left vacant, so taking out empty property insurance  can make a lot of sense.