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Landlord Insurance FAQ's

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Landlord’s Insurance is a policy that can be taken out to cover against certain financial losses associated with rental property. Buildings cover will protect the physical structure of your property along with any fixtures and fittings. Contents cover will protect any contents you leave at the property for use by the tenant.

You need Landlord’s Insurance to cover you from financial losses associated with your rental property.

You need to protect the physical structure of your property along with any fixtures and fittings and also any contents you leave at the property for use by the tenant.

You may also find that it is a condition of your Buy-To-Let Mortgage that you have Landlords Insurance in place.

We advise that you do notify your mortgage lender if you are considering letting your property as there may be implications that you will need to consider, especially if you do not have a buy-to-let mortgage.

Public Liability Insurance covers a Landlord’s legal liability to pay damages to members of the public for death and injury or damage to property or possessions, which has resulted from the Landlord’s property.

Most Landlords’ Insurance Policies do offer some level of Public Liability Cover.

Please check with your advisor before proceeding, or check your Schedule of Insurance if you already have a policy, to be sure.

You must obtain Employers’ Liability insurance if you employ someone in relation to your let property. Your policy must cover you for at least £5 million and come from an authorised insurer. For more information regarding this, please see: www.gov.uk/employers-liability-insurance.

Many Landlords’ Insurance Policies do offer Employers Liability Cover as an added extra. Please check with your advisor before proceeding, or check your Schedule of Insurance if you already have a policy, to be sure.

Insurance can be taken out from the exchange of contracts as many mortgage lenders insist that the cover is in place before the actual completion date. To be sure, check with your solicitor or mortgage advisor.

An inventory should be made by the landlord prior to letting the property as this will serve as evidence in the event of a dispute with the tenant. The inventory should be signed by the landlord and the tenant.

The inventory should be as detailed and thorough as possible. Along with listing everything in a room you should also state the condition in which you left it in. Inventory templates can be found online, or you can make your own using them as guidance.

A tenancy agreement is not a legal requirement, however it is strongly advised that you have one drawn up to protect you in the event of a dispute with your tenant. See the following website for further information regarding tenancy agreements:www.gov.uk/tenancy-agreements-a-guide-for-landlords.

If you rent your property to a family member, a lack of tenancy agreement may mean that they are not entitled to certain benefits that they would be entitled to if you were to make your arrangement formal by having a tenancy agreement in place and becoming landlord and tenant. Therefore it is always in your best interests to have one in place.

It is not a legal requirement to complete a credit check on your tenant and you must have written permission from the prospective tenant prior to doing so.

It is recommended that a boiler is serviced annually.

There are no legal requirements for inspecting the roof of your property, however to ensure that the property is in a good state of repair it is advised that the roof is inspected at least once per year.

It is a legal requirement for a landlord to provide their tenant with a Gas Safety Certificate and to have all Gas appliances serviced and to provide ongoing annual Gas Safety Inspections.

All sockets, switches and wiring at the property are the landlords’ responsibility. As are any electrical items left by the landlord for use by the tenant. Any electrical items that belong to the tenant are their own responsibility.

If you took out a buy-to-let mortgage upon purchasing your property, your mortgage lender will have had a surveyor carry out a valuation which would give some indication as to the rebuild cost. You can seek guidance from the following website www.bcis.co.uk however the only way to obtain an accurate rebuild cost is to enlist the services of a qualified surveyor.

By not insuring your property for the correct amount, your insurance provider may not pay for the full amount of your claim. If your home suffers a disaster, but you have only been paying a percentage of the rebuild cost, then your insurance provider will only pay for that percentage of the damage. Make sure you have the right cover including Contents and Loss of Rent.

If you have Buildings Insurance, Fixtures and Fittings are included in the rebuild cost. However, if you require cover for a flat you may need additional cover for your fixtures and fittings. Fixtures and Fittings are classed as things like your bathroom suite, fitted kitchen and certain other improvements made by the leaseholder that are not covered under the main buildings insurance policy when insuring a block of flats.

Most of our policies provide full cover for a period of between 30 to 90 days from when the tenant moves out, depending on the insurer and subject to you taking certain precautions to protect the property whilst it is more vulnerable. For more information please ask your advisor or refer to your policy summary.

Because you are the leaseholder, you don’t have to insure the building itself. This does mean however, that you are liable for the tenants welfare. In the incident that the tenant has an accident in the property which leads to an injury, you may be held responsible. You can cover yourself with Property Owners Liability Insurance, this will protect you if the tenant chooses to claim against you in these circumstances.

Anybody who shows a financial interest in the property is classed as an interested party. This includes businesses and mortgage providers.

HMO stands for House of Multiple Occupancy. A basic definition of an HMO is where a property is occupied by more than one family/household that share facilities such as a kitchen and bathroom and the living areas are not self contained. See “The Housing Act 2004 Part 7 section 254” for more information.

A commercial property is one which a business is being run from. You can get specialist commercial or landlord policies which help cover the different risks that come with a property of this nature.

Give UKinsuranceNET a call and we will take the initial details and log the claim with your insurer. We need as much information as possible, so while it’s fresh in your mind, let us know exactly what has happened. Make sure that you collect evidence. Take photographs of damage, record anything suspicious. Ask your neighbours if they saw or heard anything suspicious. Collect anything which can be used to support your case.

All of our insurers provide 24 hour emergency help lines. Please see your policy wording for more information.

Each insurer is different so check your policy schedule to find out what excess is applicable. You may also find that different perils have different excess amounts.

Yes, providing they have the authority to act on your behalf.

In most cases contractors can be paid directly by the client, however, for larger claims or those involving a loss adjuster then payment is normally made by the insurer direct to the contractor.

A Loss Adjuster is an agent who assesses the damage and agrees an amount of compensation that should be paid after a person has claimed on their insurance policy.

When you start renting out property, you must tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as you may have to pay tax. If you don’t advise them, you could be charged a penalty. See www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property/paying-tax for more information regarding this.

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