Landlords and insurance for empty properties
There are a number of reasons why your property may be empty if you are a landlord. Some of these you may have no control over like tenants moving out unexpectedly. Others may be planned, if you intend to carry out renovations for example. Whether planned or unplanned, it may be a sensible idea to have insurance for empty properties high on your to do list if your property is going to be unoccupied for a period of 30 days or more.
You may wonder why, if you already have buy to let insurance cover in place, you actually need additional insurance for empty properties. The simple answer to that is that you do need it because the risks to your property when it is occupied are different to those that typically prevail when it is empty. And if you fail to advise your current let property insurer that the property will be unoccupied, it could potentially render your existing cover invalid.
Tenants are caretakers
Whether or not they actually turn out to be good at the job, when you have tenants in your property they do carry out a caretaking role of a kind.
When water starts dripping in through that hole in the roof caused by a slate blowing off, threatening to damage the belongings of your tenants then they may quickly bring this to your attention. Similarly leaks or burst pipes, which could cause them major inconvenience, may not go unreported for long.
Obvious signs of occupation – lights on in the windows, gardens being kept tidy etc – may help to deter thieves and vandals from causing damage.
Tenants can also cause problems
Of course one of the functions of buy to let insurance is to protect you financially from some of the possible repercussions of having tenants in the first place.
Tenants can accidentally cause damage to your property or its fixtures and fittings.
If an aspect of your property causes injury to your tenants or somehow damages their property (that falling slate again) then you could find yourself facing a bill for damages which you may have to pay yourself if you do not have adequate buy to let house insurance in place.
Not just about tenants
Obviously tenants are not the only consideration when it comes to insurance for empty properties. Your property may also need to be protected from disasters like floods, earthquakes, storms and the like.
And it’s not just tenants who could be injured somehow as a result of your property. Anyone, even a passer-by in the street could get hurt and could sue.
Protecting your livelihood
In all probability you are in the landlord business to make money. Protecting your investment with appropriate levels of insurance cover may be one way of making sure that you do all you can to maximise your income. Insurance for empty properties is one part of that.