Guide to Landlords Insurance

If you're a landlord looking to insure your property, you should be made aware that standard home insurance cover is not an option. A standard policy will exclude cover for any property from which revenue is earned. Landlords insurance policies are specifically designed to suit the needs of the growing number of property investors in the UK - and there are a lot of you!

The reason for a specific landlords insurance policy is that the home insurance companies perceive there to be a different risk to the property if the owner is not living at the insured address. Levels of maintenance and care may be lower and the speed of response to a problem may be slower. This is unfortunately reflected in the premiums for landlords insurance policies.

Landlords insurance and the short term let

Despite your home being your main abode, you may want to let it out for a short period whilst you're not living at the address. If this is the case, you are not likely to have landlords insurance in place and are more likely to have standard home insurance cover.

If this is the case, you must contact your home insurer to inform them of this letting arrangement. They will require you to take out landlords insurance cover to reflect the change in risk. Your home insurer is perfectly within their rights to refuse to pay out on a claim if you fail to inform them of the change. Although a landlords insurance premium is likely to be slightly higher, you stand to lose the entire value of your property if your insurer refuses to pay out on your claim.

The benefits of landlords insurance

Landlords insurance products can cater for all types of residential and commercial let property, including student lettings, holiday homes and unoccupied properties.

A landlords insurance product should provide you with cover against the elements you would expect to see in a standard home insurance policy e.g. cover against fixtures and fittings and public liability cover. In addition, landlords insurance can also give you protection for financial losses relating to rent payments should your premises be unoccupiable as a result of damage.