Landlord Insurance Cover Buy to Let Options

Most landlords know that they need specialist landlord insurance. Why? Because household policies do not cover buildings, contents or the landlord for third party liabilities while the buy-to-let property is being let out.

There are a number of options available to landlords when insuring their buy-to-let property.

Firstly, it is essential that a landlord gets their residential investment property insured. Otherwise should their buy-to-let property burn down, they then would be left only with a very expensive piece of land! The best way to find out how much a landlord should insure their buy-to-let property for, is to visit the Association of British Insurers (ABI) WebSite. By registering they can then use their calculator to find out what the potential rebuild costs are and therefore the amount of insurance cover you the landlord needs.

What am I covered for?

When a landlord purchases building insurance, what does this actually insure them for? The simple answer is that a landlord needs to read the Summary of cover of each insurer as each policy varies. As a general rule however, a landlord insurance policy covers a landlord against damage to the building and permanent fixture such as baths, toilets, fitted kitchens and bedroom cupboards. Interior decorations are also covered, but a landlord should check whether floor coverings and domestic white goods are included as not all policies do.

One of the obvious differences between landlord insurance and domestic insurance is that landlords have tenants. As we know not all tenants are the same; some are perceived as more risky than others. This means that not all landlord insurance policies will cover students, tenants in receipt of benefits or asylum seekers.

One essential difference between landlord insurance & domestic insurance is that a landlord needs cover against potential huge claims made by a tenant or other party should an incident occur in their buy-to-let property. For instance imagine a tenant falling over cracking their head, because they say that the floor was uneven. Who are they going to sue? Off course, you the landlord; who could be presented with a potential claim that could amount to hundreds of thousands if not millions of pounds.

A landlord should also make sure that they are covered if their buy-to-let property is empty. Landlords all know that our rental properties may have to stand empty from time to time whilst you try and find a tenant. Voids can be painful enough without having the added worry of your residential investment property not being covered by the landlord insurance whilst it remains unoccupied.