Landlord insurance – points to consider when taking out cover

Buy to let insurance is essential if you have property that you rent out to others. There are various element of cover you may wish to consider, but broadly speaking, landlord insurance can be taken out as buildings insurance and contents insurance.

Buildings cover for landlords

When considering buy to let building insurance a policy typically provides protection for many different aspects – subject to limitations – including:

• damage caused by fire and explosion, earthquake or lightning, riot or disturbances while the property is occupied;
• storm and flood damage;
• accidental destruction or damage to cabling underground that services the property;
• theft, providing reasonable force has been used to gain entry / exit to the property;
• a loss of rent in the event that the building cannot be occupied due to one of the insured risk happening;
• subsidence.

As with all insurance policies, there are exclusions, so always read the summary of the policy carefully. It is also important to note that what is covered by one landlord insurance provider may not be automatically covered by another – policy features and benefits can vary, so do be aware of this when choosing your buy to let insurance UK cover. For instance, some providers include malicious damage protection in with their landlords insurance while others typically might not.

Landlords contents insurance

Buy to let insurance for the contents of your property is available. In most cases, landlord insurance provides protection against the same perils as the buildings insurance, the addition of other elements of cover too.

Unoccupied property insurance

There may be circumstances which leaves your property empty for some time- such as when waiting for new tenants) in this case it is essential that you inform the buy to let insurance provider. Not doing so could render your insurance policy invalid.

By definition, an unoccupied property is one where there has been no one living in it for 30 days or more, so do take note and make sure that you have the right insurance for landlords in place.

Obtaining the most suitable deal

You may wish to look into taking building and contents insurance together with the same provider. If you wish to take out both forms of landlord insurance, you may be able to make savings this way.

However, as with all insurance policies, the key to obtaining the most suitable deal is to do your homework and research your options – or you may wish to get the help of a landlord insurance broker to search for insurance on your behalf.