Landlords Protection Insurance

Landlords protection insurance

As a landlord, you may not need anyone to tell you that you face numerous risks as a result of your occupation. What you may need though is to consider how appropriate landlords protection insurance could help.

The first thing to realise is that any existing owner occupier insurance you have on the property is highly likely to be useless. That form of insurance is designed to provide cover for the building and its contents but only if the owners are resident in it. It becomes immediately invalid the moment you rent your property out and this may not be something you’ll wish to discover at the point you need to make a claim.

Specialised landlords protection insurance is designed to offer cover for rented properties. This ranges from small single flats in a larger block, to detached houses and commercial premises.

Special landlord policies are required because of the nature of the risks associated with rental properties. As one example, many rental properties have fairly regular and sometimes extended periods unoccupied whether due to gaps between tenants or your need to redecorate or renovate. It’s a sad fact that the chances of problems arising are far higher for empty property than for property that’s occupied.

You also have tenants. This is a category of risk that does not apply to the owner occupier and there can indeed be problems in this area. As many tenants will not have quite the same care and attention with your property and its contents as you do, breakages and unattended deterioration are more likely. This also applies to disgruntled tenants who maliciously damage things or who decide to help themselves to your belongings and fixtures upon departure. Yes, you may have a deposit but will it be sufficient?

Tenants may also be an issue in terms of their wellbeing. Something that happens to you in your own home may be described as an accident something that happens to a tenant in your rented property can quickly become your negligence’ and a claim against you. The courts may be just but they may also be inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to the tenant and you could find large awards given against you.

Landlords protection insurance can’t guarantee you a risk or problem free life but it can offer you financial protection against the above risks and many others. You can find specialist providers of such insurance on the Internet offering this and several other forms of insurance specially tailored for landlords and the rental market. 5 minutes spent looking them up could prove to be a good investment of your time.