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

• property owners typically wish to protect their property and its contents against a wide range of potential risks – this is due to the substantial sums of money that may be tied up in such assets;

• if you are an owner-occupier, you may be familiar with traditional home buildings and contents insurance;

• however, the moment you start to obtain rental income from a property, even if that is by renting out just a room or two in a property you also occupy, then you have made the transition to being a landlord engaged in a commercial activity – this typically means that owner-occupier buildings and contents insurance may no longer be valid for your property;

• if you have applied for a buy-to-let mortgage on a property, your mortgage contract may oblige you to maintain full buildings insurance at all times and by implication, that means landlords insurance;

• if you are already renting out a property and asking the question, what is landlord insurance, it may suggest that you do not have such cover in place currently and if that is correct, it may be advisable to take corrective action as soon as possible, starting perhaps with a let property insurance quote;

• if you make a claim under an owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance policy and it is subsequently discovered that your property was being let out in full or part, you may run the risk of your claim being refused and finding it difficult to obtain property insurance in future (insurers may have sophisticated methods at their disposal for checking the occupancy status of a property at the time an incident took place leading to a subsequent claim);

• answering the question as to what is landlord insurance, could involve a fairly simple statement that it typically contains cover for your buildings, your contents and third party liability risks. However, there may also be other factors that are important to you, such as the fact that some policies may allow you to rent to any tenant whereas others may exclude students or DSS tenants etc;

• for that reason, in order to obtain a full answer to the question, what is landlord insurance, you may need to find a little time to read the detail of any potential let property insurance policy prior to deciding that it is suitable for your situation.

What are the risks?

When asking this question, it is not uncommon to hear people responding with a list of potential risks to their property that have a fairly heavy emphasis towards various forms of natural calamity.

The may be perfectly understandable because of course, events such as severe storms and flooding tend to make headline news and are therefore at the forefront of people’s attention.

Yet there are other potentially serious risks that are less widely known or considered.

For example, burglars and vandals are perhaps unlikely to differentiate between rental or owner-occupier properties and they may quite happily break into either.

Another risk, sometimes overlooked, is that arising from third party liability.  This is the risk category that may come about in the event someone believes that they have suffered injury or damage to their property, which is attributable to your property and your negligence in maintaining it.

If they succeed in convincing a court that they are right, you may find yourself facing some very heavy damage awards.

Of course, this is in no way a comprehensive list but it is useful in illustrating that business life, for a typical landlord, may be uncertain.

Let property insurance

It may be relatively easy to find let property insurance that appears to offer cover in most of the key categories but unfortunately, life may not be quite so simple.

You may find that typical policies may need to be read to some level of fine detail, before you will be able to be sure that they are covering the risks – as you perceive them to be.

This is why starting out by searching for cheap landlord insurance may prove to be an error of approach and it may be more effective for you to consider what you believe to be the risks that you wish a policy to cover and then to find one that does.

That may clearly indicate the old truth that what proves to be cheap for one person may not prove to be cheap for you.

A risk-led approach

Essentially, concentrating on your risks and securing cover against those that you consider to be fundamental to your potential future financial well-being, may be the optimum solution to finding let property insurance.

Why?

It is to be hoped that no property owner has decided to take the huge gamble that may be involved in having a large capital asset, such as property, sitting uninsured.

What may be perhaps rather more likely is that some landlords may be using owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance, as opposed to appropriate landlords cover.

To be clear, owner-occupier home buildings and contents insurance typically does not cover situations where you are using the property concerned for the purposes of income generation.  You may, therefore, have effectively little or no insurance cover in place.

If that is the case, it may be advisable to seek an online quote for landlords insurance as soon as possible.

What is involved?

Obtaining an online quote for landlords insurance may typically be relatively straightforward and require only that you provide some minimal information relating to your property and the way you use it.

That will typically be sufficient to illustrate an initial quotation although in the case of some insurers, it may be necessary to provide more detailed information in the event you decide to go forward and purchase the landlords policy.

The respective costs

It may be difficult and not even particularly meaningful, to try and make cost comparisons between landlords insurance and standard owner-occupier cover.

The two types of policy typically provide cover for different types of risk and their probability of occurrence.

It may also be academic, as owner-occupier policies typically cannot be applied to rented or part rented property.

It may be that there are occasionally some uncertainties around unusual situations involving owner-occupier or rental properties and if so, we would be only too pleased to offer our services in helping to clarify any ambiguities.

• someone letting out a property (or even part of their own residential property) may be typically considered to be a landlord – both in insurance and possibly legal terms;

• the moment you make the transition to being a landlord, any existing home buildings and contents insurance you may have on a property, typically becomes void and you require landlords insurance cover;

• the reason for that is attributable to the fact that the risk profile of your property changes once you have tenants in it and are using it for commercial purposes;

• for example, you may have increased exposure to being sued for damages should your tenants (or other members of the public) be injured on or around your property as a result of causes they believe are attributable to your negligence and the way you have maintained the property – this is what is known as public liability insurance for landlords;

• all things considered, the risk profile for an insurer is significantly different in the case of rented properties and that explains why specific policies exist to deal with it;

• if you’re asking what is landlords insurance, it may indicate that you are or are about to become a landlord, if so, you may come across references to the fact that it is marginally more expensive on average than approximately similar owner-occupier cover – and that may lead to some temptation to try and use ordinary cover instead;

• we must always recommend that any such temptation is strongly resisted – if you claim on your policy and this is discovered, you may have your claim rejected and you might also find that it becomes very difficult to obtain insurance in future (you may also leave yourself liable for prosecution);

• the question as to what is landlords insurance, really relates to your peace of mind – if you are able to answer it by saying you have such cover that you know is adequate, then you may be able to sleep a little more easily at night;

• some forms of landlord insurance may have certain requirements of the policyholder, effectively they are obligations the landlord may need to meet if the cover is to stay in force – one example might include ensuring that your property is fully compliant with all prevailing safety legislation surrounding gas inspections and smoke detectors etc;

• one specific point well worth looking for may be landlords subsidence cover, as this may no longer be  included automatically on a policy (though you’ll be pleased to learn we offer this element of cover as standard);

• so, if you would like to find more detail in response to your question as to what is landlords insurance, we will be only too happy to help.

There are many different landlord insurance policies available and some may be more suitable for you than others. Using our services to help you narrow down your choices, may help save you time and ensure that your policy offers you a cost-effective solution for your insurance needs.

This first point to note is that this is obviously not just a case of selecting the policy with the lowest premium price.  Different policies offer different levels of cover, some of which may be of more interest to you than others.

For example, we offer all the elements of cover below – not all landlord insurers do:

• not all policies offer cover for subsidence these days -  there are some policies, however, where this may be offered as standard;
• if you are concerned about a potential loss of income if your tenants have to move out of your property if it is rendered uninhabitable as a result of damage from an insured risk, landlords insurance brokers may be able to help you find insurance cover, which may provide you with compensation for the loss of rental income;
• being put in touch with those insurance providers who may offer a premium discount if you agree to a higher voluntary excess, may be something that you may appreciate and regard as a worthwhile saving;
• being left with a bill for repairs to damage caused by a tradesman locating the source of another problem, may be something that you have experienced in the past and may be keen not to have to deal with again – with trace and access cover, however,  a simple claim on your landlord insurance may be all that’s required.

It may only be once you have found policies that provide you with the cover you need that you may be able to finally get round to considerations of the price.

Landlords insurance brokers may be able to help with an unoccupied insurance quote. This type of cover may be necessary if your buy to let property is unoccupied and is likely to be so for a period of 30 days or more.

This may be as a result of you having difficulties finding new tenants or perhaps there have been delays in them moving in.  You may be having renovation work carried out or are awaiting the outcome of probate or other legal proceedings.

As a landlord you may possibly be too busy to sift through all of the offerings to find your ideal policy.  Landlords insurance brokers may help you to find what you’re looking for.

• if you are generating income from your property through renting it (or part of it) then owner-occupier home buildings and contents cover will typically no longer be valid;

• residential landlord insurance may be required if cover is to be continued;

• the landlords cover provided will typically fall into the major three categories of buildings cover, contents cover and third party liability (in case someone sues you as a result of injuries/damage they have sustained due to your property);

• the cover typically provided by a policy may vary considerably between insurers – for example, some policies may not include subsidence cover as standard in the buildings component of the policy detail;

• you may find that it is almost obligatory to have insurance for buy to let property – insurance of other types may not be valid even if you rent out a single bedroom in a property you otherwise occupy as your normal place of residence;

• if you make an insurance claim, your insurer may choose to use techniques at their disposal to ascertain the exact occupancy position of your property at the time the incident took place – if they find it was rented out in all or part, your claim may be rejected and subject to the circumstances. You may even be liable for prosecution for making a false insurance declaration;

• remember that residential landlord insurance, like all insurance, may come with terms and conditions that it is important to read and digest – one such condition may relate to your need to comply with all landlord health and safety regulations including the need for regular gas equipment inspections etc;

• some policies may provide some forms of cover against tenant-related problems, for example, in the case of some insurance for buy to let property, insurance cover may meet components of your legal costs if you are in a legal dispute with your tenants arising from a third party liability claim, the costs of malicious tenant damage to your property or a loss of rental income if they are forced to move out due to an insured risk making your property uninhabitable etc.

• the first point you may wish to bear in mind is that when it comes to buy to let home insurance (or indeed any form of insurance), focussing exclusively on price without understanding exactly what this is actually buying you in terms of cover, may typically not be a sensible approach;

• the second point to bear in mind is that not all simple landlords insurance policies offer the same levels of cover, with some perhaps being more relevant to you than others;

• if you don’t intend to concentrate on just one particular share of the let property market, then you may not be particularly interested in a policy which may restrict cover to certain types of tenant and exclude students, DSS tenants etc;

• depending on the rent you collect, as a significant part of your income, is fine while everything is going well but if your tenants have to move out of your property if it is rendered uninhabitable as the result of an insured event (fire, flood, storm damage etc), then your livelihood may be at risk -  simple landlords insurance that offers landlord rent insurance (compensation for lost rental income) may be worth thinking about;

• not all buy to let insurance may offer cover for malicious damage by your tenants and surprisingly cover for subsidence, as a standard feature, may be becoming a bit harder to find these days (you may be pleased to know that we offer both these elements of cover);

• if you end up in court being sued by a third party claiming damages for some injury that they sustained, which they believe to be directly attributable to you and your property, then public liability cover, which may typically form part of  your buildings policy, may cover court awarded damages – remember though that upper limits may vary from policy to policy and that you may be personally responsible for any shortfall;

• you may wish to bear in mind too that if your property is empty, perhaps while renovations are being carried out or you are waiting for new tenants to move in, then your simple landlord insurance policy may only provide cover for periods of non-occupation of up to 30 days and after this time you may also need empty property insurance cover;

• remember too that if you accept a high excess on your simple landlords insurance policy, you may find that this may typically save you money on the  standard premium price.

The insurance market has changed greatly in recent years and with more and more providers using the internet, competition may have increased, giving landlords looking for buy to let insurance more choice and, often, more attractive prices.

A landlord insurance review may provide you with something to compare against your existing buy to let home insurance cover and might provide you with some food for thought.

You may find, for example, that there are policies available where you may be able to:

• qualify for a premium discount of up to 40% if you agree to accept a higher excess on your policy. The excess is the amount of money that you would have to contribute as the ‘first part’ of any claim settlement;

• benefit from having subsidence cover as standard;

• have the freedom to let your property to all kinds of tenants including DSS and students if you so wish;

• benefit from the availability of loss of rental income cover, which may provide you with compensation (up to specified limits) for a loss of rent if your tenants are required to move out of your property due to you having damage from an insured event repaired.

If you are thinking about carrying out some renovations on your buy to let property, then you may wish to review whether or not you may need an unoccupied insurance quote.

Typically you may find that, if your property is to stand empty for a period in excess of thirty days, then your existing cover may no longer be valid due to the changes in risk profile for properties that have no-one living in them

An unoccupied insurance quote, as part of a landlord insurance review, may provide you with the information you need in these circumstances and you may wish to note that there may be quite specific terms and conditions attached to this type of cover.

• sadly, that may not be the case today and if landlord subsidence insurance is something that you feel strongly about, then you may have to ensure that it is included in any landlords insurance policy that you may decide to buy;
• hopefully though, since this type of cover is something that we can offer you as a standard element of your landlords cover, you won‘t have to look too far to find a buy to let policy suitable for your needs;
• some other features of buy to let house insurance, that you may not find included in every policy these days, may include things such as:
• cover against malicious damage by tenants;
• trace and access cover, which may pay for the repair of damage that a trades person may have to cause to get at and fix another problem;
• compensation for loss of rental income if tenants have to move out of your property while damage, caused by an insured event, is being repaired;
• legal costs, which you may incur though you may wish to bear in mind that this may not include costs arising from eviction proceedings or recovery of rental arrears;
• there are other features like landlords public liability cover, typically included as part of buy to let buildings insurance, which may vary quite considerably from policy to policy and you may need to be happy with the level offered before committing to the purchase of a landlords insurance policy;
• insurance for empty houses is also something that needs to be kept in mind by both landlords and owner-occupiers in situations where the property is empty for periods in excess of 30 consecutive days – no matter what the reason may be;
• there may be more to buy to let insurance than you may at first think and remember, if you feel that you need to protect your property with landlord subsidence insurance, don’t be caught out and pay more than you have to – there are policies available where this is included as standard.