Springtime is often the period where the poets tell us that young people’s fancies turn to love though for some of us, the search for the cheapest landlord insurance continues to be our highest priority!

This may lead you to ask yourself a few questions.

Where can I find cheaper or even the cheapest landlord insurance?

This question may perhaps be better expressed in terms of the need to find suitable and cost-effective let property insurance rather than the cheapest.

Even the most modest property will typically represent a very substantial financial investment and one that it might be advisable to protect on a different basis than simply searching for the cheapest possible solution.

It may also be difficult to define exactly what you mean by the cheapest.  If you mean it in terms of the lowest cost, you may find that the lowest cost policy simply does not provide you with the cover you need and therefore may not prove to be cheap for you.

Can I get away without unoccupied property insurance?

This form of cover might only be required in a situation where your property remained unoccupied for longer than the maximum permitted under the terms and conditions of your standard landlord insurance policy (typically thirty consecutive days).

If you pass that maximum period, you may find that your standard policy has become invalid.

There may be no legal reason why you must take out unoccupied property insurance but it may be a sensible idea for two reasons

• if you have a buy-to-let mortgage, it may oblige you to maintain full insurance on the property at all times;

• do you really wish to have your property uninsured?

In such situations, seeking out an unoccupied property insurance quote might be a wise thing to do.

I’m only letting out a couple rooms in my house, so I probably don’t need landlord insurance

Unfortunately, this may not be correct though you may need to read any existing owner-occupier insurance policy in detail to be sure.

Typically, the minute you start obtaining rental income from your property or any part of it, you may have become a landlord and these things taken together may automatically invalidate any existing owner-occupier policy in force.

It may be highly advisable not to make any assumptions in this regard, in the hope that you will be able to use owner-occupier insurance, in some way, as the cheapest landlord insurance around.  Typically this will not be possible and you may be putting at risk the considerable amount of capital that you presumably have invested in your property.