If you’re a landlord or contemplating becoming one, then you may be thinking about getting a landlord insurance quote.

Before we discuss this, it’s perhaps worth quickly dispensing with one old myth – that buy to let insurance isn’t really necessary for landlords because owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance cover is cheaper.

The fact of life is that any insurance provider will typically see your property risks as a landlord as being significantly different to those of an owner-occupier.  You don’t have to be an expert in insurance to see why that’s the case:

• you have tenants and guests on your property and that may increase your exposure to third-party liability claims if they’re injured etc;
• however great your tenants are, they may never be as likely as an owner to take pro-active steps to deal with property problems at an early stage and before they become minor disasters.

Although a landlord insurance quote may typically be slightly more expensive than one for an owner-occupier, that may be understandable given that it is covering a different pattern of risk.

It’s also the case that insurers may be able to very accurately check the status in occupancy terms, of your property at the time an event occurred.  Declaring on a claim that the property was owner-occupied when in fact it was rented out, may not only ultimately prove unsuccessful – it may be an offence.

So, the first thing is that having appropriate buy to let landlord insurance is typically a must.

In terms of the landlord insurance quote and applicability, it’s typically pretty straightforward.

You may need buy to let cover if you’re:

• renting out your property in totality or in part (e.g. an individual room);
• renting out permanently or occasionally (such as holiday season rentals);
• renting out even if to family or friends.

The policies of some providers may typically cover you for things such as:

• buildings and contents;
• third-party public liability (note, this is not employers’ liability cover which is a different form of insurance);
• loss of rental income arising from an insured risk.

It’s a good idea to keep your eye on how many days your property also stands unoccupied.  If you think it may be more than 30 on the trot then you will typically need to consider unoccupied property insurance.

So, if you are looking for a landlord insurance quote, then using our service may be the next step for you. Simply complete our short quotation form online – and if you like what you see you can buy your landlords insurance and get covered immediately. You can even opt to have your policy documents delivered straight to your email Inbox. Or, if you’d like to speak to us, then please do give us a call to talk though your buy to let options – we are always happy to help!