Landlord insurance

Unoccupied Property Insurance

Unoccupied property insurance may be a way in which you can insure your property during periods when it is no longer occupied. This particular type of insurance may be not only valuable to landlords and property agents, it can be also helpful and reassuring to know you will be covered for your own property if you tend to spend long periods away from home.

If your property is unoccupied for periods of 30 consecutive days or more, then you may need to investigate unoccupied property insurance.

Situations where you could find yourself in need of empty property cover may include where:

• you have a house in probate;
• you may be going through a separation, which has left your house empty;
• your work takes you away from your property for long periods of time;
• you may be a landlord of a property, who on occasions sees the property without tenants for 30 days or more;
• your house is on the property market, and until completion, the house is currently empty.

Unoccupied property insurance may not only be a tool for landlords it may also be helpful for anyone who is away from the property for long periods of time. As often is the case, people who already have house insurance, may assume that the property is covered for any problems whilst it is unoccupied.

Many insurance companies are obliging in covering properties which are unoccupied for less than 30 days; a family holiday for instance is often accepted. However, if your property is empty for longer periods you may need to take out extra cover. It is very important to note that unoccupied property insurance is not typically included in a landlord’s policy, nor traditional owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance, so you may need to purchase separate insurance to cover periods of in occupancy.

The level of cover which is provided with unoccupied property insurance, as with all insurance policies, depends on your requirements. As with all insurance policy’s reading the documents thoroughly prior to taking out cover may be recommended to ensure that you have the correct and adequate cover to suit your personal circumstances.

What will Landlord Insurance cover you for?

photo credit: Regina Rentals

Becoming a landlord can be an extremely exciting and fulfilling experience. It can also be rather straightforward provided you are lucky enough to have filled your property with easy going yet responsible, friendly tenants that pay their rent each and every month, without fail. If this sounds familiar, then fantastic! You will no doubt be reaping the benefits of letting out your precious property.

However, even if this is the case, there will still, undoubtedly, be troublesome times ahead. Just ask many and most landlords and they will be able to inform you of certain troubles they will have encountered over the days, months, and years.  

The most common problem landlords experience is tenants refusing to pay their rent. This can be a rather loathsome situation as it wastes time that could be better spent elsewhere, such as expanding a property portfolio for example.

Tenants falling into arrears with rent payments can also be a difficult problem. Even if your tenants have paid their rent every month without fail, as aforementioned, it does not mean that this will continue into the future, especially during these difficult financial times that are currently upon us.

Other common problems that many landlords face these days is damaged caused by tenants, and even theft, or attempted theft. It is an unfortunate saying, however, desperate times do sometimes call for desperate measures, in many people’s view at least, and it has been known for tenants to effectively steal household items that are rightfully owned by the landlord, in order to then sell them on to make a spare bit of cash. Immoral and wrong, yes, but it does, unfortunately, happen.

An effective Landlord Insurance policy can protect you against such problems. It will also protect you against a whole variety of other issues, such as any damage to fixed glass, which can also be a rather common occurrence for many landlords. Landlord insurance will also cover you in the event of any damage being caused to underground services. This can often be very costly and will cause a large amount of stress to a landlord and their tenants. However, with a decent insurance policy, this stress can be greatly reduced. As will the stress of many of the other issues any landlord can encounter from day to day.

Loss of Rent cover for landlords

Experienced landlords understand the importance of insurance, especially that which provides cover for loss of rent.

Insurance is vital to the rental market, not least because buildings can easily become damaged or fall into a state of disrepair. Equally, tenancies are perhaps not as secure as they used to be, at least in terms of tenants having greater incentives to shop around in a challenging market. When all factors are considered, loss of rent cover is essential to the success or survival of most landlords in the UK.

It ought to be noted that loss of rent cover is available with certain types of comprehensive buildings insurance. Checking the terms and conditions of all existing contents and buildings insurance policies is a necessary first step towards securing cover for loss of rent.

Of course, not all such policies indemnify landlords for loss of rent; furthermore, many landlords in the UK are merely leaseholders, with buildings – and, therefore, buildings insurance – owned by freeholders. Leasehold landlords can apply for their interest to be noted, encouraging the freeholders to make changes to their insurance policies, but there are easier ways to secure cover for loss of rent.

Many insurance companies include loss of rent cover as standard in comprehensive landlord insurance; however, landlords must exercise caution in relying on such provisions. It is standard practice for insurers to calculate the amount of rent cover provided using the value of a building. Although proportionate to the amount of buildings insurance cover, this value may be significantly lower than the market value for rent in a particular area. As such, a landlord may lose money by relying on comprehensive cover.

Loss of rent cover comes into play when a property becomes uninhabitable – not necessarily when tenants default on payments. In order to recover losses on defaults, landlords ought to purchase a form of credit insurance, which can apply to private and commercial tenants.

Returning to the subject of loss of rent cover applicable to uninhabitable property, landlords often rely on this type of insurance when damage is caused to buildings. The cause of damage is not usually a relevant factor unless inflicted deliberately by the insured, which may constitute fraud should a claim subsequently be brought by the landlord.

Typical causes of property damage include flood and fire, but it is also possible that damage might be caused by storms, earthquakes, accidents or instances of vandalism. Rodent or insect infestations might also necessitate the temporary evacuation of a property, while excessive damp or mould must sometimes be treated without the presence of people.

Particularly bad damage to property could take weeks, months or even years to fix, meaning that buildings may remain uninhabitable for a considerable period of time. When choosing loss of rent cover, it is essential that landlords select a sufficiently long term as to cover extensive damage, otherwise they may find themselves out of pocket for longer than can be afforded.

It is also worth noting that not all landlord and loss of rent policies provide maximum cover. As mentioned above, the value of rent is often calculated in proportion to the value of a property or buildings insurance. This figure may be too low. Likewise, not all insurers are willing to pay for 100 per cent of the rental losses. Ensuring that all or most of the rental value is covered for a certain period of time is arguably the most critical factor to consider when choosing such insurance.

In summary, loss of rent cover is essential for many landlords. Nobody can predict when or for how long rent might be lost, but insuring for the worst case scenario is usually the best policy, not least because many landlords with buy to let mortgages rely on the income generated by rental properties to survive.

A good process for finding the most suitable landlord insurance quote

As a landlord, having adequate let property insurance in place may be something that you take very seriously. After all, your property could be an important source of income to you. However, landlords often require different insurance from private owner occupiers. So when you need to find insurance for your property, how do you go about finding the most suitable landlord insurance quote?

Consider exactly what you need

Not all landlord insurance policies are the same. Some may provide certain levels of cover that others do not, and some may be more expensive than others. Before you even start looking for let property insurance, think about what you would like to be covered within your let property insurance policy and then try to find something that matches this.

Typical things that you may want covered include:

• malicious damage by tenants;
• landlords legal liability;
• loss of rent due to an insured event (eg a flood or fire);
• subsidence cover (no longer offered as standard with some let property insurance policies).

Compare insurance policy quotes

It is typically a better idea to look at a number of let property insurance quotes when you are looking for a policy rather than going with the first one which you find. That way you can compare buy to let house insurance policies based on what is covered and the prices of the premiums, helping you to choose the most suitable one for your needs.

Don’t go on price alone

Although you want good value from your insurance, price alone is not a great indicator of which is the most suitable. It may be tempting to go for a policy which has a lower premium, but the question to ask is whether this really provides you with the cover that you need.

Find the most suitable policy

Once you have looked at a few different buy to let insurance quotes then you can choose the one that is most suited to your needs. This may be the only way to make sure that you get the most suitable landlord insurance quote for your requirements rather than one which may end up costing you more down the line.

How to protect your rent

We all know that times have been tough recently and people all around the world are facing increasing living costs, mounting debt and the threat of job loss. Unfortunately, with all this pilling up, more and more people are finding it hard to pay their rent each month and having to default or refuse to pay.

So what can you do? Well, first and foremost, any sensible landlord will run stringent credit and background checks on tenants before letting them move in and sign contracts, which will help avoid letting to people who have defaulted on rent in the past.

However, even the best tenants in the world might not be able to cope if they suddenly lose their job and even if they have been perfect in the past there is no guarantee that they won’t have to stop paying rent in the future.

The best way to protect yourself, as a landlord, from this is to take out Rent Guarantee Insurance. This will protect your rent if your tenants can’t pay or can cover your costs if your tenant falls into arrears.

Rent Guarantee Insurance acts as a safety net, meaning you won’t have to suddenly panic about losing money every month or about chasing your tenants for money they just don’t have. 

It may not be necessary to take this cover out on every tenant or once the economy has recovered slightly, but at the moment it is a great way to protect you, your investment and most importantly your rent.

Looking For Ways To Get Cheap Landlords Insurance??

Being a landlord has its own advantages. Firstly you get to have an alternate source of income, which is consistent throughout the year. Secondly being a landlord gives you financial freedom and a class in the society which you get to enjoy. Along with these advantages being a landlord also means that you will be having more responsibility than any other people. In order to get your income consistently you need to make sure that your building is constantly maintained. In order to have proper protection to your investment you need to consider buying yourself cheap landlords insurance.
Landlords insurance is designed specifically to provide the needed financial protection in case your property is damaged. There are varieties of landlords insurance available in the market. The best way to buy a policy is to either approach an insurance agent or to search the polices online. Both ways have their own advantages and disadvantages. In this article we will be discussing about how one can get themselves a cheaper quote on their policy by either way.
1. First and foremost one needs to make sure that their property is in good condition. Damaged houses or commercial complex do not get good quote on any policy. So before applying for any type of policy it is better that you get your house repaired.
2. Pay close attention to the safety details of the house. Install anti theft alarm and make sure that the windows and doors are properly secure. This will increase you opportunity to apply for discount of safety features.
3. The next feature is to make sure you apply for the rest policy. It is vital that you know what is important for you and what you are looking for in a policy when it comes to providing the coverage for the property. This way you can apply for cheapest policy which satisfies all your demands.
4. Lastly you need to know where you can get the cheapest landlords insurance policy. The best place where you can get the cheapest quote is the internet. You can log on to the sites which deal with landlords insurance policy and check the various prices quotes provided from different policy providers. You can also compare these quotes and understand which policy suits you better. Many of these sites also offer discounts if the policy is purchased from them online.

Angella Brown is an expert author on various interesting topics. To know more about the various policies why not compare cheap landlords insurance yourself, from a range of top providers. For more in-depth analysis of insurance feel free to visit us at Landlord Buddy Insurance.