|
Today Residential Landlord Insurance
can be sourced through a large number of underwriting
agents working with leading insurance names such as AXA
and Zurich.
In an ever growing minefield of
options, how can anyone be certain they are purchasing a
product that meets their needs at a competitive cost?
While it will always be difficult to be precise, there
are always a few key points that should to be compared
before making a buying decision.
Type of
Tenant
In the case of some policies, the
insurance premium will depend on the tenancy type.
Working and/or Professional people attract, as you might
expect, a lower premium than Students, DSS or Asylum
seeking tenants. You should be careful to
alert your insurance provider if the types of tenant
change and be aware of the limits allowed by periods of
un-occupancy as outlined below. Some policies may be
cancelled if the tenancy changes.
Unoccupied periods
Naturally due to the nature of this
market your property will be vacant for periods between
tenants. It is important that your property
insurance policy continue to offer cover between should
your property become vacant. Some leading brands
will provide up to 90 consecutive days between tenancies
with full cover (subject to certain terms) to support
this situation.
In most cases you will be required to
keep the property in a good state of repair, inspect the
property on a regular basis, maintain the heating,
ensure the property is secure etc. You should also
be careful to inform the insurer if the property is
undergoing any refurbishment or construction whilst it
is unoccupied as this may be relevant in the event of a
claim.
Loss of
Rent
Loss of rent cover is only available
through specialised carriers and it is important that
you check this is part of your cover. This benefit
will help ensure that you continue to receive a rental
payment if your property becomes unfit to live in due to
damage insured under the policy. Cover available
ranges from 15% to 30% of the building sum insured.
Terrorism
Let property
insurance Let property
insurance has been historically provided by
commercial underwriters who generally exclude terrorism,
whilst standard residential home insurance included
terrorism cover. Only a few underwriters will include
terrorism in residential let properties automatically,
whilst most will quote separately as they do for
commercial properties.
Property
Owner Liability (a.k.a. Public Liability)
This element of cover has become almost
standard with Buildings and Contents insurance of Let
properties. Leading insurance companies such as
AXA and Zurich recommend a claims limit of up to £2m,
whilst offering additional levels of cover in special
circumstances.
Employers
Liability
Once again historically it has not been
the usual practice to include this element of cover and
it is not always automatically included in a Landlords
Buildings policy. If however it is provided, the
prescribed legal minimum is £10m. Be aware that when
this element of cover is provided as part of a buildings
insurance product it does normally only extend to
Employees that are employed in relation to the
organisation and management of the property.
Excesses
As you might expect, increasing your
excess decreases you premium. What you need to be
acutely aware of is that insurers apply a ‘standard’
excess, but this often varies from company to company.
Some insurance providers apply a greatly increased
‘standard’ excess and it is important that they tell you
the excess limit before you agree to go ahead with the
purchase. It is very important that you are sure
that the policy excess meets your requirements from the
outset.
Legal
Expenses (and Rent Guarantee)
A product that is often over looked by
landlords is the Legal Expenses and Rent Guarantee
product. The product has been around since the
early 1990’s and in short pays for legal costs of
evicting tenants who are in breach of their tenancy
agreement.
The policy will also cover the value of
the loss of rent in the event of a tenancy dispute
whilst going through the eviction process and until the
property is legally vacated.
Our comprehensive Landlord Insurance
product has been designed to specifically meet the needs
of a residential let property owner. Not only does
it allow for all Tenancy types but also it offers the
following benefits:
 “All
Risks” cover (subject to certain exclusions)
90
Day unoccupied clause
Loss
of Rent up to 30% of building sum insured
Property
Owners Liability to £2m
Employers
Liability to £10m
Replacement
of locks and keys following theft
Terrorism
included |
