Here are some of these questions and associated responses.

Does it make sense to look for a cheap landlord insurance quote?

The answer to this question must be a qualified yes.

Prices may vary between insurance providers and therefore looking around only makes commonsense.

The qualification, however, relates to the fact that this does not mean that it may make sense to look for the cheapest quote you can find and put price above all other considerations.

What proves to be cheap for another person may not prove to be cheap for you in the longer term, if you end up with buy to let house insurance that is not suitable for your purposes – something that may prove to be a very expensive realisation if discovered only at the time you are trying to make claim.

So while price is inevitably important and a factor that you may be unlikely to overlook, remember to keep in mind that it may be more sensible to look for cost-effective landlords insurance rather than exclusively a cheap landlord insurance quote.

Does cost-effective cover imply a compromise in the quality of protection?

No, not necessarily.

There are a large number of factors (too many to discuss here) that may influence the premium a buy to let insurance provider associates with a given policy and the situations that they will take on cover.

It may be perfectly possible to find excellent cover that is also cost-attractive – and that is where our services may be able to help.

My property is unoccupied at the present time – does that make a difference?

It may do.

Landlords insurance policies typically cover unoccupied properties up to a maximum of 30 consecutive days without occupation.  After that period of time, your standard insurance may become invalid and you may need to consider getting an unoccupied property insurance quote.

If your property is unoccupied and covered by this form of unoccupied property insurance, you may find that certain additional conditions apply such as needing to keep your property in good external appearance and ensuring that it is visited regularly.

You may also be obliged to drain down all water and heating systems – something that may be particularly important at this time of year when the risk of frosts and burst pipes is particularly prevalent.

A standard cheap landlord insurance quote typically will not include unoccupied property cover.

• malicious damage by tenants cover – some policies may contain this whereas others may not and it may prove to be something that is important to you one day;

• third party liability protection – although such cover may be relatively commonplace with home insurance for landlords, nevertheless, the maximum amount of cover provided may vary from one policy to another and it might pay to keep in mind just how high a court award may be against you if you are successfully sued for damages or injuries caused to another person by your property;

• trace and access cover – this applies in situations where a trades person has been forced to cause damage to your property as part of their searching for the origin of the problem (e.g. a leak) and not all policies will cover the restitution costs involved;

• landlords loss of rental income protection – if you are unable to continue letting your property to tenants due to the fact it has been damaged by an insured event, you might consider the best let property insurance to be that which offers you some compensation for your loss of income (and not all policies may do so);

• tenant flexibility – some policies may not offer full cover for tenants in categories such as DSS or students, so if you wish to have complete freedom in terms of who you let your property to, you may need to search for a policy that covers all tenant types;

• variable excess -you may find that, for you, the best let property insurance is that which offers you the greatest scope for discounts and some policies may offer reductions of up to 40 percent in premium if you accept higher levels of voluntary excess (the excess is the sum of money that you agree to pay as your contribution to the cost of any future claims).

In this case, this does not involve tenants as such but instead a group that have occupied an empty office building and who are refusing to leave.

As a report indicates, the landlords have issued an eviction notice and the all-too-familiar long drawn out legal proceedings are now underway.

Of course, in the absence of the full facts, it is impossible to make any judgments or even to state firm opinions as to the respective rights and wrongs of this individual situation.  What it is possible to predict with a degree of certainty, is that this is unlikely to be quickly resolved and perhaps even less likely to be inexpensive for the landlords concerned (directly and indirectly).

In the case of legal disputes between landlords and tenants or as in this case, occupying parties, the position with regard to landlord insurance may be complicated and worthy of serious consideration.

Some landlord insurance policies may offer assistance towards legal costs in situations where they arise due to an otherwise insured risk.  Perhaps one such example may be where you have become embroiled in a legal claim against you arising under the auspices of third party liability protection cover.

By contrast, in situations where the legal costs are being incurred due to a dispute between you and your tenants over unpaid rent or eviction proceedings, an individual policy may or may not cover the legal costs involved.

Given the sums that may be involved in a typical court case, this may be something worth checking in advance.

Some landlords may believe that the law is too inclined towards the rights of tenants and squatters and insufficient attention is paid to the serious financial effects that disputes and occupation of property may involve for the landlords concerned.

Some may also argue that the legal processes involved are too slow, too cumbersome and far too expensive and given the apparent simplicity and straightforward nature of many such cases.

There is, of course, a counterargument and a detailed discussion is clearly beyond the scope of a simple article of this nature.

In summary, this position may highlight just how an important subject legal expenses cover for landlords may be as well as the importance of knowing what the landlords insurance typically entails.

*Source

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-16284883

• what may be the best let property insurance for somebody else may not be best for you and the only way to evaluate an option is to consider it in detail against your own requirements – that presumes that you have thought through your own requirements in advance;

• not only are the requirements of any two individual landlords unlikely to be identical, but your own requirements may change over time – for example, you may currently the letting regularly to DSS or student tenants whereas in the past you may not have been (meaning that let house insurance policies, which exclude these types of tenants, may not be suitable for you any longer);

• there may not be any natural relationship between the best let property insurance and the ticket price of an individual policy – a policy that is a good match for your requirements may prove to be one of the lower cost options but remember that if you need to make a claim, the historic cost of your policy will no longer be of interest to you and your full focus will be on the cover provided by the policy;

• some elements of landlords cover may be rather less common, as standard, yet they may prove to be very important to you, so policies which offer them may be particularly attractive – examples might include trace and access cover (the costs you may incur if a tradesperson needs to damage your property in order to find the source of the problem) or a loss of rental income protection (where this arises as a result of an insured risk);

• if you are successfully sued for damages arising from third party public liability, a court may award truly staggering costs against you – that is why it may be advisable to consider the best let property cover insurance to include, amongst other things, significant cover against this type of risk;

• keep in mind also that subsidence cover, once something that it may have been relatively safe to assume would be included as standard in most policies, now may no longer be automatically covered – once again, given the size of the potential financial risks in this area, it may be worthwhile looking for a policy that does provide this cover;

• finding the best let property insurance for you may take a little time and it may be advisable to consider a number of options before starting to feel confident that you have identified a particularly suitable one.

Yet there may be another way to consider the opportunities offered by low cost landlords insurance:

• you may be able to influence some components of your own landlords insurance costs;

• if you take certain steps to reduce the risk of claims arising, your insurance provider may be able to recognise that through lower premiums;

• things that may help you achieve low cost landlords insurance through the use of discounts, might include using additional security on your property or accepting a higher voluntary excess etc.;

• sometimes making a concerted and serious effort to shop around for your cover may result in you finding more cost-effective policies – an activity that we may be able to assist you with;

• remember that if your property stands unoccupied (e.g. during building work or between tenants) for more than 30 consecutive days (or 45 days with some providers) you may find that any standard landlords insurance becomes invalid and you may need to become involved in searching for the best unoccupied property insurance;

• this 30 day clause may apply even in situations where your property is standing unoccupied for reasons that are entirely beyond your control – such as tenants failing to arrive at the last moment, redecoration taking longer than you anticipated, or refurbishment works over running;

• of course, what is the cheapest or best for another landlord might not prove to be so for you, so it is important to be sure that you have rigorously evaluated any quotation or insurance option before you decide to accept it;

• keeping your costs down may be a laudable business objective but remember that in the final analysis, your insurance policy may be the only thing standing between you and financial ruin. Whether or not, therefore, a search for a low cost landlords insurance policy alone should be the main selection methodology you adopt, may be something that you may wish to consider carefully.

Despite the current economic climate it seems that lenders are fighting each other in the fight to sign up property investors, and there are semmingly no limits to how far they will go.

Out go early repayment fees and cash back deals that currently flood the market, in come a new range of products with new interest rates with the estimated lending figures set to rise by over 30% in 2012.

Strong demand for tenants is pushing the sector forward and lenders are devising new innovative products to appeal to the modern investor. The Industry awaits the next moves in the rental “Cold War”.

Thanks

Mike

Comparatively few people are predicting that the 12 months stretching out in front of us are likely to be anything other than tough – and that may be good reason for starting to think about a let property insurance quote.

Of course, it may be the case that you already have insurance in place and are reasonably content with leaving things as they are, however, before deciding to do so you may wish to ask yourself a few questions:

• are you sure that your existing landlords insurance policy still offers appropriate value for money;

• does it offer the full range of cover that you may wish (e.g. including things such as subsidence cover and trace and access protection);

• is it providing appropriate public liability insurance for landlords:

• is the policy still competitive when viewed against other newer policies that are now available in the marketplace?

Unless you are an insurance professional or specialist, it may be unlikely that you will be able to answer any of these questions without obtaining at least some new landlord property insurance quotes.

Almost inevitably, people may not relish the idea of needing to start looking again at insurance quotations even though there may be some specialists who are able to provide you with several quotations from different insurance providers at the one time.

Slipping easily into the “do nothing” rut may be a tempting option for many of us – particularly if we are feeling the depth of winter blues that may be prevalent at this time of year.

Yet if the 12 months ahead are as difficult as some are predicting, some landlords may find themselves in the position of needing to attend ever more closely to their basic costs and the cost-benefit models of their business.

You do not have to wait until your renewal is due before thinking about another let property insurance quote and your overall insurance position.  In fact, doing so earlier than is absolutely necessary may provide you with additional time to conduct a more systematic review. Do remember, as well, that we are always on hand to help, so don’t be shy about getting in touch if you have a question or need assistance.

Britain has long been a nation of animal lovers, I may be showing my age but I remember the old BBC series “One Man and His Dog” being a popular show, but it seems that the landlord sector so not share the same views.

Increasingly, landlords are stating “no pets” to prospective tenants, citing the amount of damage that they cause and that insurers do not cover the results of animals on their policies.

Now, it appears that a new weapon is being used by tenants is to get an “animal reference” which is akin to a tenant reference but far more stringent, for example evidence of dog training is a big plus. It must also be said that owners of unfurnished properties are happier with pets as sofa’s are not at risk.

It is all a far cry from the cosy image of Britons enjoying long walks with their pets and far more discrimination is evident now.

Mike

Research from a leading body suggest Britain could be heading for a huge increase in the number of properties bought as holiday lets, with up to quarter of those surveyed saying this was a possibility.

It is generally seen as fairly low risk as most holiday letters have booking forms with names and addresses of those staying in the property to reduce the chances of any issues. Likewise it is always best to check the property after any such arrangement or have a representative that can check the property, such as a cleaner.

Cover4LetProperty are specialists in the landlords field and our highly trained Team are here to answer any questions you may have on freephone 0800 9707172.

Mike

Yet given the sums of money that a typical landlord may have invested in their property or properties, a little caution may be advisable before making the achievement of cheap landlords insurance your primary objective.

The problem with the term, cheap unoccupied property insurance, is that it doesn’t say anything about the suitability of the policy for your needs.

It may sound to be self-evident that an insurance policy needs to be a good fit for your purposes rather than merely cheap, however, in difficult economic times perhaps it is necessary to restate the message from time to time.

There may be many examples of situations where one policy may differ from another.  Take, for example, insurance cover for the risk of subsidence.

In the not too distant past, it may have been typically safe to assume that policies would have carried such cover as part of their standard proposition.  Today, the assumption may no longer be true.

This then leads to an illustration of the type of question that applies to the concept of cheap insurance – would you wish your property not to have subsidence cover even if the policy was definable as cheap?

Even simple landlords insurance may need to protect you against a wide range of risks that in some cases may lead to financial disasters should they arise and prove to be not covered by your policy.

Understanding what risks your property may be exposed to may not be easy nor is understanding the nature of the cover available in different policies.  This is where we may be able to assist you by highlighting some of options that may be available to you.

It might pay to remember that what is cheap for one landlord may not prove to be cheap for you and having a policy that proves to be useless to you in the event you need to make a claim, may prove to be a very expensive policy indeed.

Looking for cheap unoccupied property insurance may make sense but it may also be advisable to think carefully about the policy before you purchase it.