Landlords Insurance Guide

There is no legal requirement for landlords to hold a landlords insurance policy, although not owning one would be very inadvisable.

Most of today’s landlords face risks on a daily basis and owning a second house as an investment is no different – A fire or robbery may destroy your investment and the hard work you have put into it. With property letting fast becoming an increasingly popular method of saving for the future, it makes sense to protect it! Insurers have recognised the need for landlords insurance and as a result have developed policies and cover to cater specifically for landlords. At Isis we deal with a wide range of landlord insurers and we are able to find the best insurer for each landlord’s circumstances, be that a landlord with either one or a portfolio of properties.

In addition to providing cover for a range of properties, our panel of landlord insurers can also offer competitive terms for whatever the type of tenants involved from professional working tenants through to students, DSS referrals and even properties let to local authorities or asylum seekers.

A standard landlords insurance product consists of a number of insurance products bundled together which will not only save you a great deal of time and effort, it should also cost less too! If you plan to be, or are a residential landlord you would insure the building and any of your own contents left in the property. An example of what would be covered may include (but would not be limited to) the building, any fitted interior units, and other possessions. A landlords insurance policy would also provide cover against fire, storm, theft, vandalism/malicious damage, leakages, smoke damage, subsidence, burst pipes, impact from vehicles, falling trees, animals, aircraft, aerials and masts. Most policies also include property owners liability, protecting the landlord against claims that may be made against them by either the tenant or general public, and also loss of rental income should the property become uninhabitable following a claim.

The tenant would only take out an insurance policy to cover their own contents and possessions.

Commercial landlords insurance is slightly different in that the landlord is responsible for insuring the building and claiming premium payments from the tenants as business tenants would normally be charged (and expect to pay) for the building insurance cover. In addition a commercial landlord would also need landlords liability insurance, legal cover, debt management and other bespoke insurance policies.

 Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the buildings sum insured?
  You are always asked to give an estimate for the buildings sum insured when obtaining a Landlords Insurance quote. This is an estimate of the cost for rebuilding your property should it be completely destroyed. Do not confuse this with the selling value of the property, which is normally much higher, otherwise you will be paying more than is necessary for your landlords insurance. On the other hand, do not be tempted to deliberately understate the buildings sum insured since should it come to making a claim the insurers will reduce the amount that they pay you in proportion to the amount you have underestimated.
• Why am I not already covered under my normal home insurance cover?
  Home insurance policies will not pay when the property is being used to make an income. You must therefore buy a Landlord’s Insurance policy which is especially designed and rated for these circumstances.
• I have several properties, do I need to buy one policy per property?
  No, you can buy one insurance policy which covers as many properties as you have. Please complete our online form above or call 01625 539 656.
• How do insurers calculate the premium for Landlords Insurance?
  Different insurers use different ways of assessing the risk of your property and therefore how much to charge you. Some of the major factors are:
• The location of the property (postcode)
• The buildings sum insured
• The type of tenants in the property
• A history of claims
• The age of the property
• The type of property (flat, detached, terraced etc)
• What is Buy to Let Insurance?
• landlords insurance is commonly also known as Buy to let insurance. The cover available under a buy to let insurance policy is the same as a landlords insurance policy. You can get cover for your property, contents and landlords liability insurance. You will also be able to get insurance for a portfolio of properties as well as a singular property.

If you need buy to let landlords insurance cover then ISIS Insurance can help, we have partnerships with a panel of the UK’s leading landlords insurance specialists. Through our partners we offer comprehensive landlord insurance cover at extremely competitive landlords insurance rates.

For a landlords insurance quote online click here – Alternatively call our Landlords Insurance team on 01625 539 656.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Landlords. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.