Invest Wisely In Landlord Insurance!

Investing in a specialist landlord insurance policy is something all buy-to-let property owners should do, but it is the one vital area where people mistakenly try to curb their financial expenditure, it has been claimed.

The statement comes at a time when a recent Paragon Mortgages report revealed that during the last 3 months, UK BTL landlords have increased the size of their rental property portfolio’s by an average of 1.8 properties each.

Sim Sekhon, spokesman for Legal4Landlords explains: “Property investors put a lot of time and effort into finding the right properties for their Buy-To-Let property portfolio’s and need to ensure that they have the right insurance cover in place to adequately protect their property assets. If property investors choose the wrong insurance policy, it can have disastrous financial consequences as they discover that they are not covered for malicious damage. Standard buildings insurance cover will not protect landlords in the event of malicious damage to the property by tenants or any loss of rent if the tenants leave unexpectedly. Unfortunately landlords only discover that their insurance is completely inadequate after they try to claim, leaving them with damaged property and a huge bill to make it habitable again. A situation that many landlords simply cannot afford to be in. Landlords should always read the small print and make sure they are comprehensively covered by a specialist landlord insurance policy”.

Regular home insurance will not cover a residential property unless the owner actually resides at the property.

Many residential buildings insurance policies actually state in the small print that the policy will be deemed void if the property is used for rental purposes, so it is vital landlords get the correct level of insurance cover.

Landlord insurance provides a more comprehensive level of protection and it is important that all property investors who are landlords of buy-to-let properties invest wisely in it.

Laura Howard from Moneysupermarket.com explained how a good landlord’s insurance policy should include third-party liability in case of damage caused to the structure of a property by a tenant and includes covering the cost of re-housing tenants if a fire or flood makes the rental property uninhabitable.

Ms Howard also advised landlords to make sure the policy takes in to account any furniture provided by the property owner and provides liability cover in the event that a tenant or their visitor is injured at the property and claims against the landlord.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) advises landlords that failing to seek permission from or not informing their current mortgage provider that the property is to be rented out could also invalidate any subsequent claim.

#Landlord Insurance