Whether you are a landlord with a small or big portfolio finding the right landlord insurance cover is hugely important.
Imagine if your property was damaged and you had no cover, with many insurance implications these days it’s a good idea to have a look at what landlord insurance covers.
Here at Property118, we’ve teamed up with The Home Insurer which helps provide a top-class service and could help save you money.
Landlord insurance can include various types of cover
Different types of landlord insurance cover you for different risks. The type of cover you choose depends on what risks you would like to be covered for.
Matthew Harwood, home and lifestyle expert at Confused.com home insurance, explains: “Landlord insurance can include various types of cover:
- Building insurance: Covers damage to the structure of the property due to fire, flood, storms, and other events.
- Liability insurance: Protects against legal claims if someone is injured on your property, covering legal fees and compensation costs.
- Loss of rent: Compensates for lost rental income if your tenant can’t live in your property.
- Contents insurance: For furnished properties, this covers damage to or loss of furniture and appliances provided by you.
- Legal expense cover: Covers legal costs that might arise from disputes with tenants or other issues related to property rental.
- Accidental damage: Covers unintentional damage to the property or its contents.
Standard landlord insurance won’t cover some things
It’s important to remember that standard landlord insurance won’t cover things like subletting, tenant’s belongings or damage caused by pets.
Jason McClean, director of The Home Insurer, explains: “We have landlords come to us who sublet and some of them don’t even realise.
“Landlords might sometimes have a local council putting in benefit assisted tenants into their properties, the contract is between the landlord and the council, but the tenancy is between the council and the tenant which is a totally different sort of insurance you need.
“You need sublet or rent-to-rent insurance – standard landlord insurance won’t cover it.
“Many landlords don’t see that and just stick their head in the sand and go to another insurance company to find the cheapest quote possible and if they’ve had a claim, they’ll get it refused which is a real shame.”
The Home Insurer says they can help landlords in subletting insurance.
Jason said: “We can solve these problems for landlords if they have mixed tenancies and benefit tenants; you name it we can deal with it.”
Tenants need their own contents insurance
When it comes to tenant belongings it’s important to let the tenants know they’ll need their own insurance.
Lloyds Bank explains that landlords are not responsible for tenant’s belongings.
The bank said: “A question that is often asked is, are tenants responsible for their own contents insurance? You’re not responsible for your tenant’s belongings but it’s good to let them know they’ll need to get their own cover.
“Landlords’ contents insurance provides cover for certain appliances such as white goods, furniture and furnishings, belonging to you but for the use of your tenants. This can cover the cost of replacing items that are lost or damaged by fire, flood or theft.”
Pet insurance
With the Renters’ (Reform) Bill on its way, many landlords will be worried about the implications. The Renters’ Reform Bill will force landlords to have a “good reason” not to let tenants keep a pet.
Some landlords are threatening to leave the market or hike rents if they lose the right to ban tenants from having pets.
The government has provided some clarification when it comes to the potential financial implications regarding damage caused by pets in properties.
As part of the Renters’ Reform Bill, the government will amend the Tenant Fees Act 2019 to include pet insurance as a permitted payment. This means that landlords can require pet insurance to cover any damage to their property.
Under the reforms, agents and landlords who consent to the tenant keeping a pet must inform the tenant in writing that either:
- The tenant maintains insurance to cover the risk of pet damage to a reasonable level
- The tenant must pay the landlord’s reasonable costs of maintaining insurance that covers the risk of pet damage.
Good landlord insurance offers peace of mind
Whether it’s protecting against property damage, liability concerns or loss of rent, having good landlord insurance will make any issues easier and less stressful to deal with as you will know that you will be covered.
With The Home Insurer, you gain peace of mind knowing you are covered for any unpredictable events that life throws at you.
Use the form below to contact the team or call 01832 770965 to get a quote.
Landlords Buying Group Insurance Renewal
Landlords Buying Group Insurance Renewal
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