What follows in this article should not be interpreted as qualified legal advice.
In order to obtain that, it may be necessary to speak to your local authorities or perhaps a solicitor qualified in letting law.
In terms of the specifics relating to landlord insurance, it might be advisable to contact a specialist provider such as UKinsuranceNET or other expert. However, in terms of a quick and relatively informal overview, the following might prove useful in understanding your obligations relating to insurance.
Official regulations
At one time, landlords required no formal registration and specific national and local government regulations applicable to them were relatively limited.
Today, in much of the UK, that has either changed or is in the process of doing so.
The situation is complicated because it may differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. On top of that, in terms of England, the position may vary again depending upon your county or other local authorities.
Broadly speaking, some of those areas introducing the need for landlords to be formally registered may also include requirements relating to certain levels of minimum insurance cover.
Where regulations exist, they are likely to be targeted very much at public liability cover. That means the degree of insurance protection you have available to cover court awards and costs in the event you were sued for damages by your tenants and they won.
Where any official requirements exist, they may not typically extend to stating what cover you need to have in place in order to protect your own financial interests through your exposure to risks to your buildings or their contents.
Of course, it might be highly risky to consider landlords’ insurance as something you will only take out if the law forces you to do so. Given the sums you may well have invested in your property and its furnishings, leaving them uninsured might be unwise.
Mortgage requirements
Just as is typically the case for owner-occupiers, if you have a mortgage or any other form of substantial loan advanced against the security offered by your property, the lender may insist that the property concerned is fully insured.
That is to protect their interests in situations where, for example, your property was badly damaged or destroyed with its value hugely reduced – and you subsequently decided to stop paying your mortgage.
It is very likely that at the time you took out your mortgage or other borrowing you will have signed some form of contractual agreement relating to it. That might well have committed you to maintaining such cover and if you fail to do so, you may be in material breach of contract.
That isn’t just an academic condition but one that could result in your lender demanding the immediate repayment in full of the sums advanced and the seizure of your property if you fail to do so.
