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.

Obviously any policy for buy to let landlords insurance may need to be tailored specifically to your own set of circumstances. Some basic information may be required though including:

• where your property is, its size and value;
• whether it is let on a furnished or unfurnished basis;
• the level of voluntary excess you may be prepared to accept;
• whether you have made claims in the past.

The other factors which may help determine how much is landlord insurance, may be related to how you operate as a landlord and your own personal preferences for elements of cover that may not feature in all policies.

For example:

• third party liability cover may be included in a typical buildings cover policy but the level of protection offered may vary significantly from policy to policy;
• buy to let policies may not offer cover for all types of tenants, as standard, with some specifically excluding students for example or DSS;
• subsidence cover is not as commonplace as perhaps it once was and may not be included as standard in all policies;
• you may be looking for a let property insurance policy that may provide you with loss of rental income cover should your tenants have to move out of your property while repairs are carried out to damage caused by one of the insured events like fire, flooding etc.

If you know that your property is going to be empty in the coming year for a prolonged period of time, then you may perhaps have to factor an unoccupied property insurance quote into your how much is landlord insurance calculations.

That’s because if your property stands empty for periods in excess of 30 days, your buy to let landlord insurance may cease to provide cover for it.

There may be numerous reasons why your property might be unoccupied:

• you may be carrying out renovations;
• you may be having problems finding new tenants;
• perhaps there are legal reasons like divorce proceedings  or probate that are preventing you from letting out the property.

Whatever the reasons are though, unoccupied property cover may be necessary to cover the additional risks.

All of the above factors may have an impact on your how much is landlord insurance cost calculations.  If one of your New Year resolutions is to find the most cost-effective deal you can, then we would be only too pleased to help you in your search.

• relying on price alone though may not be the most effective way of finding the most appropriate policy for you;
• cheap let property insurance quotes may be very different when you actually look at the landlords cover on offer and what you may consider to be a cheap option for landlord insurance may not be the choice of another landlord with a different set of requirements;
• landlord buildings insurance may typically offer cover for damage to your property caused by events such as earthquakes, fires and smoke damage, flooding, storms and the like – some policies may also offer you compensation for loss of rental income if your tenants have to move out of the property if such an event renders your property uninhabitable (limits may apply and compensation may not be available if the loss of rent came about for other reasons);
• you may find, for example, that not all cheap let property insurance quotes may offer cover as standard for damage caused by subsidence – some do though and if this is an issue that is important for you, it may be worth looking out for;
• some policies for home insurance for landlords may be restrictive in the types of tenants that they are prepared to cover with some for example excluding students and DSS – there are policies though which may be able to offer you complete freedom in this respect by covering all tenant categories;
• if you are a landlord of long standing then you may have had the unpleasant experience of finding yourself responsible for the costs of making good after a trades person had been called in to fix a problem  – there are landlord insurance policies though which provide trace and access cover which means that damage done while locating and fixing another problem may be covered;
• you may find that you may be able to get a step closer to cheaper let property insurance by agreeing to accept a higher voluntary excess on your policy  – this may result in a reduction in premiums of up to 40%;
• the cheap let property insurance policy that you may see advertised may be entirely suitable for your needs or it may not – looking beyond the price  at the cover provided may typically provide you with the information you need to make an informed choice.

It is a difficult question and the following points may need to be taken into consideration as part of any debate on the subject:

• to begin with, it may be advisable to remember that the word best is highly subjective – what may be best for another landlord or group of landlords may not be the best for you;

• there are typically three areas of risk that may apply to some landlord situations – risks to your property, your contents and your own personal financial situation;

• risks to your building and its contents are typically well understood when considering what is the best let property insurance. However, it is sometimes overlooked that a landlord may be personally exposed to financial disaster in the event they are successfully sued under third party liability conditions – it therefore makes sense to be sure that any landlords insurance policy you are considering actually contains sufficient third party cover in financial terms;

• any landlord insurance policy may typically contain exclusions and caveats that may have a material effect on the extent of your cover and the ease of making a claim – it may typically be advisable to take note of the content of such exclusions, as it may give an indication as to the probability of you being able to make a successful claim in due course (should the need arise);

• it may be advisable to be cautious about confusing cost-attractive policies with the concept of the best let property insurance – remember that if you do need to make a claim, the first question you will be asking is whether or not the circumstances are covered by your landlords insurance policy and not how much the policy has been costing you over the years;

• in today’s difficult economic circumstances, the cost of insurance is inevitably an issue and some policies may be able to offer you substantial discounts on your premium if you accept a higher voluntary excess (in other words, you agree to pay more towards the cost of any potential claims);

• one of the main objectives of any form of residential landlord insurance is to provide you with as much peace of mind, regarding your financial risks and exposures, as is possible – the best let property insurance may be that which allows you to get the best night’s sleep when contemplating your buy to let property!

Winter blues

At this time of year, with winter now very much here, it may be useful to pay some attention to those elements of cover that may be particularly relevant just now.

This might include features of let property insurance cover related to events such as burst pipes, storm damage and the like but you may also wish to read through terms and conditions while carrying out your landlord insurance comparison to make sure that you fully understand what, if any, actions may be required by you to help keep you property that bit safer during the winter months.

Unoccupied property

This may be particularly relevant, for example, if your property is standing empty as you may find that you are required to ensure that all water and heating systems are drained down to help reduce risk.

If your property is unoccupied for a prolonged period of time (possibly in excess of 30 consecutive days) then your existing cover may not be valid and you may need to think about unoccupied property insurance. You may wish to note that with this type of cover, the terms and conditions may be very different to those contained within a standard policy.

Standard features

You may wish to take special note of whether of not policies may provide some of the following features, as standard, as not all may do so;

• trace and access cover;
• malicious damage by tenants;
• compensation for loss of rental income;
• landlords subsidence cover.

Landlords public liability insurance cover

Another important feature of any landlord insurance comparison is the level of public liability that a policy may provide. This would represent the maximum that your policy would pay out to meet a court award where damages had been awarded against you as a result of some negligence on your part, which had caused injury to another person or damage to their property. Since some awards may be staggeringly high, you may need to ensure that you are happy with what a particular policy may offer.

What does landlord insurance cover?

It is unfortunate that the first question asked must receive an imprecise response, however, the reality is that, to be sure what a given policy provides, it is necessary to read the details.

No two policies originating from different insurers are likely to be identical and some may provide different forms of let property insurance cover to others even though they may all, broadly speaking, be regarded as letting insurance.

Typically you may find that cover is available under four general categories – the buildings, your contents, your third party legal liabilities and what may be termed as miscellaneous cover.

What does miscellaneous cover mean?

Some policies may offer elements of cover that may not easily fit under the definition of buildings, contents or third party liability – they may include things such as:

• malicious damage by tenants;

• trace and access cover (the restoration of damage caused by builders or repair people while they are working to find the origin of an insured problem in your property);

• loss of rental income protection – to cover circumstances where your tenants may be forced to vacate your premises due to an insured risk while repairs are carried out (for example, flood or fire).

This is just a sample and there may be several other such additional areas of cover.

Does landlord insurance cover subsidence?

In the past, such cover was typically considered to be a standard component of both owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance policies and landlords buildings insurance policies, however, today that might not necessarily be the case.

Although some policies (such as ours) may include it, others may not.

What about winter flooding risk?

This is a highly topical subject in the light of publicity relating to global warming and often arises when people are asking what does landlord insurance cover?

Once again, the position may vary by policy and there may be no alternative to reading the fine detail.

Some letting insurance policies may specifically exclude flooding risk if your property is located in an area with a known predisposition towards flooding.  Other policies may apply special terms and conditions, should that be the case.

It is difficult to generalise, however – all issues to do with environmental concerns and exclusion clauses, should be identified, discussed and resolved, as part of your initial evaluation of the policy’s suitability.

In the specific case of flooding and whether or not your property is at risk, you may be able to find advice and guidance from potential insurers, the local authorities, the local environmental agency or the local press.

Once again, the question as to what does landlord insurance cover, is best dealt with in advance rather than waiting until a problem has arisen. If you are unsure as to any aspect of your policy with ourselves, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

• the simple and obvious reason for this is that not all landlords let out properties that are furnished;
• if you do require landlord insurance contents cover though, you may wish to ensure that the cover provided in terms of new for old or market value replacement and the individual limits that may be applied to some of your more high value items, are acceptable for you;
• checking which items of your possessions may be covered by a landlords contents insurance policy and which may come under the heading of fixtures and fittings typically covered within a buy to let buildings insurance policy, may also make sense;
• whether you require contents insurance or not, you may typically find that some buy to let buildings insurance may offer valuable cover that may help you protect the investment that you have made in your letting property;
• while many landlords insurance policies may offer fairly similar cover in terms of the types of perils or events covered  (fire and flooding, storm damage, earthquakes etc), it may be important to note that not all policies may offer cover for damage to your building due to subsidence;
• you may also find that there are policies which may allow you complete freedom when it comes to the types of tenants that you have (some policies may decline to offer cover for students or DSS, which you may find a bit restrictive);
• not all landlord insurance policies may provide you with protection against malicious damage caused by tenants;
• some let property insurance policies may also provide cover for those occasions when a tradesman that you have called in to locate and fix another insured problem, may have to intentionally cause damage to a part of your property on order to access the original problem – this is known as trace and access cover;
• some policies may be able to offer landlords rent insurance as part of their cover – this may provide you with compensation for loss of rental income if your property is rendered uninhabitable as the result of an insured risk and your tenants have to move out;
• when it comes to protecting your buy to let investment, landlord insurance contents may only be part of the story.

• as a landlord, you may typically have significant sums of money tied up in your property and possibly its furnishings as well;

• landlords cover insurance exists to try and provide you with protection for those invested sums;

• cover is typically available for the landlords buildings, contents and people-related risks (third party liability insurance) – some policies may also offer ancillary cover benefits;

• owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance is typically not valid for properties that are being used for the purposes of generating rental income – that may even include properties you reside in but where you are letting out a room or rooms;

• insurers typically have methods of establishing whether or not your property was being rented out at the time an incident leading to a claim took place, so looking for modest savings by trying to use owner-occupier cover may not be sensible (your claim may be refused at it may also be an offence);

• our services may hep you find a cost-effective solution to your landlords cover needs;

• the various forms of landlord insurance online may cover similar-sounding categories of insurance but the way they implement them may be significantly different, therefore, it is important to read a policy carefully before deciding to purchase it;

• one example of difference is provided by loss of rental income cover – some landlord insurance online policies may contribute towards those costs if your tenants are forced to move out due to an insured risk making your property uninhabitable, however, not all policies may do so;

• you may also find that some policies may typically offer cover irrespective of the classification of your tenants whereas others may not offer cover for categories of tenant such as DSS recipients or students etc;

• if you think there is a possibility that your property will be left standing unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days, you may wish to consider unoccupied property insurance as any existing landlord insurance may become invalid in such situations – even where you have not had direct control of the circumstances leading to the 30 day limit being passed (do note that with some let property insurance, the limit may be different);

• some policies may provide additional forms of cover, such as a contribution towards the legal costs if you are sued for third party liability or for malicious damage to your property by tenants;

• if your property is precious to you, it may pay to take landlord insurance online seriously.

Residential landlord insurance is specifically designed to protect your buy to let investment.

As well as cover for the building itself and your contents (available as an option if you need it) some residential or let property insurance may offer you:

• financial protection in the form of compensation for loss of rental income, in the event that your tenants have to vacate your property during any repairs to damage (caused by an insured event) being carried out;
• cover,  as standard, for damage to your property caused maliciously by tenants or due to subsidence;
• trace and access cover, for repairs to your property caused by a tradesperson trying to locate the source of another problem;
• public liability cover, which may pay out if someone sues you for damages if they are injured or have their property damaged and they claim this was due to some negligence on your part with respect to the maintenance of the property.

If your property is empty for a period of 30 days or more, then your landlord insurance may no longer be valid and you may need to purchase unoccupied property insurance.

This type of insurance specifically covers those risks that prevail when your property is unoccupied:

• when tenants are in your property, even though they may not actually do anything themselves, they may lose no time in letting you know if there is a problem. This means that things may get fixed quickly before they may result in more extensive damage which may happen if no one is around to spot the problem (this may be particularly relevant as winter approaches when burst pipes may be an issue);
• the unlit windows of a vacant property and a garden getting more and more overgrown, may attract thieves and vandals.

Residential landlord insurance may need to be supplemented by vacant property cover – so you may wish to read though your policy documentation to ensure you won’t get caught out.

• it could be argued though that at this point it may be too late to be wondering how good or otherwise your current buy to let policy may be;
• the time to assess what is the best let property insurance quote may actually be prior to making a purchase;
• the way to consider a quote may be to compare the policies on offer by matching them against your requirements and expectations for landlord insurance cover;
• what may be no surprise is that what may be the best policy for  one landlord may not prove to be the best or most suitable option for you;
• there are a number of features of buy to let property insurance which may not appear in every policy and some of these may be of more interest to you than others;
• not all policies may offer cover for subsidence as standard, for example, or offer cover for malicious damage by your tenants;
• there are some landlord insurance policies which may offer you compensation for loss of rental income if your tenants have to vacate the premises while you have repair work done to damage caused by an insured risk like fire, flooding, the effects of smoke, storms, earthquakes etc;
• your insurance quotes may highlight those policies where you may have the greatest freedom to let your property to whosoever you chose – there are policies which do not cover students or DSS, for example;
• you may also wish to bear in mind that even the best let property insurance quote may require that you put specific insurance provision in place if your property is standing unoccupied for prolonged periods of time in excess of 30 days;
• typically you may find, in these circumstances, that you may need to purchase unoccupied property insurance covering those risks which may be more prevalent when your property has no one living in it;
• these may include your property being an increased target for thieves and vandals or the property being more at risk from things going wrong and left unfixed, causing damage which then gets worse over time;
• owner-occupiers may also require unoccupied property insurance cover in similar circumstances, for example, for a property under probate or empty as the result of an extended business trip abroad or an extra-long holiday;
• we would be only too happy to advise on this and any other questions that you may have on finding the best let property insurance quote.