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Landlord insurance is cover you can take out for residential or commercial properties you rent out.
Sometimes called buy-to-let or property rental insurance, landlord insurance is a broad term used to describe a range of cover that protects you against the risks that come with being a landlord.
Landlord insurance can cover you, your income, the buildings in your portfolio, and their fixtures, fittings and contents.
It’s not a legal requirement to have landlord insurance, but you may need it if you want to take out a buy-to-let mortgage to purchase the property. Check your mortgage requirements carefully.
Even without a mortgage lender, it's worth considering landlord insurance because it can provide more relevant cover than regular home insurance. This applies whether you're renting to paying tenants or family members.
No, regular home insurance is unlikely to cover you, because you’re not living at the property. You don’t know whether your tenant is causing any damage and can’t rely on your tenants to address issues before they spiral.
Worse still, if your tenant is injured inside your rental property, you may have to compensate them from your own pocket if you don’t have the correct landlord insurance.
If you have a holiday home, you’re likely to need holiday let insurance rather than landlord insurance.
This can cover the cost of rebuilding your property if it suffers significant damage due to events such as a fire, lightning strike, earthquake, burst pipes or subsidence.
The rebuild cost isn’t the same as the market value or the price you paid for the property: it’s how much it would cost to rebuild your home today. Use a rebuild calculator to work out the cost before you take out your insurance.
This can pay to repair or replace fixtures and fittings in your property. For example, it can cover damaged electrical sockets or light fittings, fixed glass and mirrors, roof tiles and insulation.
This can protect you from compensation claims made by anyone in the property (e.g. a tenant, visitor or contractor). If they were to take legal action over an illness, injury or property damage sustained within your property. This cover could pay your legal fees and compensation costs.
This can protect all the items inside the property that belong to you, such as upholstery and furniture. To work out what level of cover you need, add up the cost of replacing all your belongings inside the property. If the let is unfurnished, you shouldn't need much cover.
Rent guarantee insurance can cover your rental income if your tenants fail to pay. It can also cover legal costs for repossessing a property after an eviction and much more.
This can cover the cost of rebuilding your property if it suffers significant damage due to events such as a fire, lightning strike, earthquake, burst pipes or subsidence.
The rebuild cost isn’t the same as the market value or the price you paid for the property: it’s how much it would cost to rebuild your home today. Use a rebuild calculator to work out the cost before you take out your insurance.
This can pay to repair or replace fixtures and fittings in your property. For example, it can cover damaged electrical sockets or light fittings, fixed glass and mirrors, roof tiles and insulation.
This can protect you from compensation claims made by anyone in the property (e.g. a tenant, visitor or contractor). If they were to take legal action over an illness, injury or property damage sustained within your property. This cover could pay your legal fees and compensation costs.
This can protect all the items inside the property that belong to you, such as upholstery and furniture. To work out what level of cover you need, add up the cost of replacing all your belongings inside the property. If the let is unfurnished, you shouldn't need much cover.
Rent guarantee insurance can cover your rental income if your tenants fail to pay. It can also cover legal costs for repossessing a property after an eviction and much more.
How much you need to pay depends on a range of factors, including:
The level of cover - Costs will rise if you add on extras
Your property’s age – your premium can be affected by the year your property was built
Your claims history – previous claims could potentially have an effect on your premium
Your tenants – for example, you could pay more if you let a student house or a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)
Your property's location - premiums can be affected by your area’s history of flooding and subsidence
Keeping on top of repairs and maintenance can reduce the likelihood of needing to make a claim.
You pay more for cover when letting to certain types of people. For example, insurers view students sharing as a higher risk than a professional couple.
If you are letting out a flat, the building’s freeholder should already have buildings insurance, so you might not need separate cover.
Only pay for the cover you need.
Before comparing quotes and taking out a policy, gather the information you need to apply for landlord insurance. This includes:
The address of the property
When it was built
The cost of rebuilding the property (work this out with the help of a rebuild calculator)
The type of tenants in the property and the length of their tenancy agreement
Total rental income for the year, if you want to add rent guarantee insurance
The total value of your personal items inside the property, such as upholstery, furniture and kitchenware
Claims history for the past five years
The type of landlord insurance you need
The value of fixtures and fittings inside the property
It ’s simple to make a claim on your landlord insurance, simply contact your insurer either online, by phone or by sending an email and explain the circumstances of your claim.
Although it’s easy to make claims, insurers may take some time to process them, so always submit them as soon as possible. There might be a time limit on claims too, such as 30 days, so don't delay if you think you have a case.
Depending on the nature of your claim, for example if it's for damage or theft, you may also need to obtain a crime reference number - you can do this by making a report to the police.
It’s important to make sure you read your policy thoroughly to understand what its terms and conditions are before making a claim.
It depends. While it’s not legally required, having it may be a condition for your mortgage. If you rely on the property’s rent to pay the mortgage, then landlord insurance could prove doubly important.
Yes, landlord insurance is tax-deductible. You can reduce your tax bill by including your landlord insurance as an expense alongside other tax-deductible expenses, like property maintenance and running costs.
Yes, there are situations where landlords might not need specialist insurance. For example, if you sublet a room in your own house, you might not need landlord insurance, but you should check that subletting is permitted with your current home insurance and mortgage arrangement.
Yes, you can get multi-property landlord insurance as some insurers offer a single policy that covers several properties at once. This might work out cheaper than taking out individual policies for each property, and many insurers offer multi-property discounts.
In terms of whether you are covered for damage caused by tenants - you'll need to check your policy. Malicious damage is covered by most insurers, but you may have to pay a higher premium to cover this.
No, you don't need to insure your tenants' contents as the responsibility lies with them.
Your insurance can cover lost rent, depending on the circumstances and the covers you choose. Rental income cover can pay out for rent lost due to your property being damaged and becoming uninhabitable. Rent guarantee insurance can pay if your tenants withhold or fail to pay rent.
You'll need to check your policy to see if boiler breakdown is covered, but it’s unlikely to be offered as standard. You’ll need to either pay extra to cover it or take out a separate boiler insurance policy.
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