House Insurance Landlord

House insurance landlord

The bad news is that ordinary house insurance isn’t going to be of much use. Insurance companies see the risks associated with rental and owner-occupier properties to be different, with those in the rented category being at higher risk.

In practice, some risks such as flood or subsidence may not vary much between privately occupied and rented properties but the landlord (and their insurance company) needs to be aware of potential additional problems that will apply specifically in the case of rented-out property. Just a sample of these may include things such as intentional damage or neglect by tenants, injuries to tenants or third parties while on the premises and, tenant theft of fixtures, fittings and contents.

The insurance company also has to take into account that rented properties may stand empty for longer periods and more frequently, than private dwellings. This adds further risks of deterioration and vandalism. If the property is serviced and maintained by other people on the landlord’s behalf, this adds further complexities such as what happens if the property is seriously damaged during cleaning, redecoration or renovation etc.

Specialist insurance required

All these are risks that in general do not apply to the private owner-occupier and unsurprisingly, as a result normal house insurance landlord will not cover a rented-out residential property. If the property is commercial or a mixture of both commercial and residential, ordinary household property and contents insurance becomes even less appropriate. For a landlord, it would be a major error to rely on standard owner-occupier insurance to protect property.

If that’s the bad news, the good news is that there is affordable specialist landlord insurance available to cover most of these issues. There are companies that offer various types of policy specifically aimed at helping landlords sleep at night, free from many of these concerns.

These policies can cover properties ranging from a small cottage rented out for holidays up to massive commercial complexes. They can cope also with the complexities of mixed property types, a single flat in a larger block, buildings insurance and contents insurance and cover the variety of complex risks arising from third party liabilities.

House insurance for a landlord isn’t something it is possible to become an expert in by reading a pamphlet or two. The issues can be complicated and getting a policy that is the best fit for a requirement requires the expert knowledge that the specialists in landlord insurance offer. Contacting them for advice and guidance may be a sensible step for many landlords.