How to think about landlords Insurance
If you’re a landlord, landlords insurance may be one of the most important things you need to think about in terms of your business.
It is the fact that your property is your business that’s important. That’s because the insurance you require needs to protect you against not only the conventional property risks such as fires and storms but also the commercial risks that are unique to rented-out properties.
Sadly, such risks do exist. The level of protection offered varies between landlords insurance policies and insurance providers but cover may be available for things such as:
- theft or destruction of your contents, fixtures and fittings;
- wilful damage to your property or fixtures and fittings caused by tenants;
- public liability insurance – to protect you against claims from people that they have suffered injury as a result of being on or within your property;
- empty property cover – to cater for those times when your property may be empty between lettings and is, as a result, more vulnerable to things such as forced entry, vandalism and unnoticed troubles such as burst pipes.
Of course, because it is providing greater cover, a landlords insurance policy will typically be a little more expensive than the usual owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance. This factor may lead to the view that it would be possible to economise by using an owner-occupier policy.
That may be a grave mistake. In the event of a claim, you would be making a potentially fraudulent declaration and insurance companies do have ways open to them of checking to see if your property was being rented out at the time of the incident resulting in a claim.
It’s also typically advisable to be very cautious about even casual and informal lettings. Even if you rent out a part of your property for a very short period, such as a room or two during the holiday period, your property may immediately be deemed to be a commercial concern and therefore your existing owner-occupier policy would become invalid.
Whether your property is an apartment or a fully detached house, it is providing you with income. That income may be critically important to you and taking chances with it may not be advisable. If you’re unlucky enough to suffer a problem with the property that puts your income at risk, you will want to get it fixed as fast as possible.
Having the appropriate type of landlords insurance in place may be key to helping to achieve that.
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