Landlord Insurance Quotes

Landlord insurance quotes

Most people realise that what determines the cost of an insurance policy is basically down to risk, and cover for property owners and landlords is really no different. The higher or lower risk a leased out property is, the higher or lower the premium is going to be. But there are some other things to bear in mind when looking around for landlord insurance quotes, as deals are often more detailed than some beginners to the sector might expect.

To start with, a typical landlord cover policy includes a buildings insurance element, in the event that the structure itself suffers a fire, flood, storm damage or other common eventualities. Although not necessarily guaranteed to happen, these scenarios can be devastating when they do occur and can wreck a property and take it off the market.

The buildings cover elements will do essentially the same thing as the buildings side of a home insurance deal for a family - and will include a sum insured as well. This is the total amount an insurance company would payout in the event, for example, of the total destruction of a property. This means it is important to name an amount which is correct, although the amount itself can be below or above the current sale market value of the home.

Sum insured

Essentially it needs to be enough to rebuild the property from scratch, and the advice of a professional surveyor may be needed. While a smaller sum insured can get you a cheaper premium and more affordable landlords insurance quotes, it can also put you at risk if it is inadequate, leaving you with a big gap to fill if the property is destroyed and the payout is not quite enough to cover its rebuild in full.

Some other variables on this kind of cover include protection if you lose the rent income from a property, for example, because it is damaged and unusable and out of action for a period. Fire or flood damage can often be complicated to fix, and mean a property is uninhabitable for commercial or residential tenants. This means while there are no tenants in paying rent, rent protection can provide a proportion of what you have lost due to the disaster. However, there will be upper and lower limits to the cover element, and again this can influence the cost of a premium.

Another thing to bear in mind when looking for landlord insurance quotes is whether or not you need contents protection as part of the plan, whether you are a commercial or residential landlord. While the normal fixtures and fittings will be covered by the buildings element, any electrical goods, furniture, and other items like carpets may need to go under a contents policy.