A long term investment is an excellent way of securing your future and those of your dependants. That is why landlord insurance is critical for those with rental properties. A rental property is a long term investment and source of income. However, some unprecedented incidences could happen such as accidents and destroy your source of livelihood.
Having the best landlord insurance is the surest way to protect yourself from losses. You may need to compare landlords insurance to get a cheaper quote. You can get cheap landlord insurance when you compare quotes using Compare the Market or Money Supermarket.
Is Landlord Insurance Compulsory?
It is not mandatory to have landlord insurance if you are renting out your property. However, you must have one to protect yourself from unforeseen losses from your rented property. It is because home insurance may not cover a rented property. Also, a majority of mortgage providers will require you to have a landlords’ insurance policy before you can get tenants.
You will need landlords insurance in the following scenarios:
- Renting out property to family members or friends. When renting out your property, you need to buy landlord insurance apart from the home insurance. You must also have a written agreement with the tenant. For personal reasons, you may choose not to have a tenant policy to cover you against legal expenses or tenant default. However, the best option is to have a general cover like landlord building insurance that protects your structure. Tenants’ liability insurance comparison is also important in case you choose to buy a tenant’s policy.
- Homeowners’ vs landlord insurance. You could probably be asking yourself, is landlord insurance cheaper than homeowners insurance. The truth of the matter is, if you have landlord insurance, you do not need to buy homeowner cover. It is because landlord insurance is a kind of homeowner insurance that protects you against certain rental property incidences.
- When you are a resident landlord. In some instances, you may rent part of your property, while you are residing in the same compound. In such a case, having a cover tailored for your building and its contents will not protect you from rental-related incidences and liabilities. As such, you would need landlord insurance.
- If you already have building insurance. You need to check with your insurer if you can make changes to your building insurance. If you can, then include rental-related elements like rental protection. That is why it is important to compare landlords building insurance and determine if you can make changes later if need be.
- If you have a lodging. If you are just renting a room and note entire property, you still need landlord insurance. Home insurance cannot cover you since it is tailored to the policyholder and the family members.
Types of Landlord Insurance
Many insurance covers can protect a landlord against various risks. That is why let property insurance comparison is very important. The following are some of the most critical covers for landlords.
- Landlord liability insurance. This is a policy the covers the landlord against claims by the tenant in case of an injury or damage to a tenant’s property. This could be as a result of electricity connection or a tree falling o their property.
- Legal expenses insurance. The policy covers the cost of evicting a tenet and any court-related costs accruing as a result of the eviction.
- Tenant default insurance. The policy covers the landlord against tenants who default in rent payment. You can get reimbursement by your insurer for up to 8 months. However, you need to carry out credit evaluation and referencing and have a landlord-tenant agreement by your side.
- Loss of rent insurance. If you cannot rent out your property due to calamities that you gave insured against, then you get a reimbursement.
- Alternative accommodation insurance. This cover protects a landlord when his property has been rendered inhabitable. As such, the tenancy agreement obliges the landlord to provide alternative accommodation. The landlord is only covered against the insured risks such as flood or fire.
- Accidental damage insurance. The policy protects you against unforeseen accidental damages that occur to a property like a broken window. However, it does not protect you against normal wear and tear.
- Landlord home emergency insurance. The cover helps the landlord in times when there are issues like plumbing, drainage, power connection and security systems. Landlord emergency cover comparison is critical since you can get a good deal that can cover alternative accommodation to a tenant for a while.
- Unoccupied property insurance. In some instances, your property could remain unoccupied. So that you can continue to remain covered, you need to conduct some necessary checks. As such, you also need insurance for unoccupied property comparisons.
Landlord Insurance Providers
There are several insurance providers in the UK. You need to compare landlord insurance provisions from different insurers to ensure that you get the best deal.
Landlord Insurance Cost
The cost of landlord insurance would depend on many factors. The main ones being the size and the cost of your property you want to insure. Do not always go for the cheapest landlord insurance since it may not be the best for you. Make sure to compare landlord insurance deals before you can decide the one you will buy.
Buy To Let Buildings Insurance
Buy to let landlords require more than just home insurance since it does not meet the needs of rental properties. Buy to let buildings insurance does not cover the contents of the building. However, you can arrange to have cheap contents insurance for tenants. It will cover their property like furniture and electronics. As such you would also need to compare tenants insurance.
The cost of buy to let landlord insurance depends on the size and cost of the property. However, to land on the best deal, we advise that you carry out a buy to let insurance comparison before deciding the policy to purchase. Money Supermarket is an excellent buy to let house insurance comparison site.
Conclusion
While rental properties are long term source of income, they are subject to losses. Such losses may be caused by accidents such as fire and floods. As such, it is important to compare quotes to land on a cheap landlord insurance deal. Evaluate various provisions from different insurers and get the best deal that suits your needs.