Do I need landlord insurance? Find out if you do now

Do I need landlord insurance?

Find out if you need landlord insurance or not?

That is a question asked by thousands of landlords all the time, and the reason for this is to make sure that you're running your business correctly with all risks covered!

Understanding landlord insurance is critical because you don't want to miss anything out, especially if you have to make a claim, and the insurance policy doesn't pay out because you forgot to mention something when you set up the policy.

Today we're going to look at why you need landlord insurance, and whether you need landlord insurance as a letting business if you have 25 properties or a single property, it doesn't matter.

Rules are rules, and insurance is strict.

Here are the most commonly asked questions that landlords need information and guidance on.

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Do you have to have landlord insurance by law?

This type of insurance is one of the only products on the market that's not required by law, by any means. But it might be needed by your buy to let mortgage provider, and in most cases, you need a policy before your mortgage is accepted.

As a landlord, you probably know this already, so let's skip ahead and get onto the next question about flats that many UK landlords ask on the Internet. You can also see this article about law.

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Do I need landlord insurance for a flat?

Where is the flat located and how much would it be if you had to pay expenses out of your own pocket to pay for a rebuild from the ground up, or pay for any costly damages? If you are a one property owner and rely on your rental income, you could get away with not having a landlord insurance policy by keeping an eye on the property yourself.

Less risk at the end of the day, but no cover!

But what if the property you own goes on fire, and what if your roof starts leaking or you get flooded out and that your property becomes uninhabitable until you pay for all the damages caused by natural causes?

That's where the trouble starts.

And what if your tenant refuses to pay the rent because they can't live in your property anymore? You may get away with it for 5-10 or even 30 years, but what if your building starts subsiding or the foundations become unstable?

Simple, a massive bill in the pipeline.

If any of that happens, (God forbid) you have no rent coming in, and the worst thing of all is that you have no value left in that property apart from the land, just because you refuse to pay £120 a year for buildings insurance.

Is it not worth having?

If you own a flat, at least consider buildings insurance for the flat, you own. You can do without contents insurance if you own an unfurnished flat and the tenant provides the furniture yourself.

You can take out just buildings cover, no problem.

If you want a quote for a flat, you can do that here.

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Do I need landlord insurance for a leasehold flat?

If you lease a flat, you're not responsible for buildings insurance because the owner of the flat must take out a policy for this. Of course, you can certainly take out a contents insurance policy or a rent guarantee insurance policy and combine that with public and employers liability insurance to protect you and your business from the public and costly legal fees.

To sum it up, the freehold owner should have a policy for the flat you rent or the apartment you take care of for another company.

If you want a quote for contents only insurance, you can do that here.

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Do I need landlord insurance if renting to family?

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It doesn't matter if it's a family member or not because anybody living within your property needs to sign a lease. That lease is backed by law, even more, important than that, it is a family member, so you want to make sure they're taking care of while they're living there.

The way to do that is making sure you have a comprehensive landlord insurance policy in your name, ( or the business name) so if anything happens whatsoever, your tenant, i.e. family member will be rehoused until all repairs are completed.

You see, landlords insurance can be a life-saver.

And another thing about family and business, most of the time it doesn't work out and fallouts to happen.

So what does that mean?

They could stop paying your rent, so what do you do then?

You could cover yourself with rent guarantee insurance to make sure that any monthly payments are covered for your buy to let mortgage provider, whether it's a bank or a loan provided by some other financial institute.

Make sure you have the right policy, get a quote and get the cover you need by clicking here.

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Do I need landlord insurance if I live in the property?

If you own the property you live in, you could get away with a normal home insurance policy because theoretically, you're not renting, because you own.

Ask an expert, click here.

As with any property you own it's always good to have a buildings insurance policy before any other type of policy because this will protect you against fire and flooding, which is very important because you have no control over that because accidents do happen.

Electrical faults are very common these days, and companies are battling that by making parts less more prone to catch fire. You see, you have no control over anything because you don't make electrical products, you buy them.

You have no way of knowing if any electrical problems exist and you cannot guarantee that product won't go up in flames, can you?

That's another reason to have insurance.

So when the day comes when you move out, and you're thinking about renting it out to somebody else, then you would consider a landlord insurance policy to protect your assets and rental income.

You can get away with no insurance if you live in it yourself.

Get the advice you need if you live in the property, but you are still an active landlord by contacting a few experts through this quote system, which is provided by QuoteSearcher LTD.

Click here for a quote.

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Do I need landlord insurance in the UK?

It depends on your circumstances, and every landlord and every business is different, but for peace of mind, insurance companies do advise you take a policy out to cover at least the building from arson and vandalism.

In the UK you are not required to have landlord insurance by law.

If you are a UK landlord, you can get a quote here.

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Does a landlord have to have insurance?

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You personally as a landlord should consider a public liability insurance policy just in case anything happens and you become liable. For instance, you could be getting some work done on your let property, and somebody like a contractor injured her/himself, and basic health and safety went out the window.

And that's just the start of it.

It could be a neighbour visiting your property, and they fall a broken slab, or they could get injured on a piece of glass that's hanging out somewhere on the window pane.

Nasty.

Anything could happen and if it's your fault and if the court says it is your fault, then your liable in the eyes of the law, and there's no way out of apart from having a landlords insurance policy in place to cover all the costs of lawyers and legal fees.

And the cost to your pocket.

We can tell you right now that you'll be delighted you did take a policy out because it's something landlords do not want to face at any time during their career because it will cause stress and could cost you financially down the road.

Don't take silly risks with your business or assets.

Compare quotes with landlord liability insurance built-in by clicking here.

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Who pays buildings insurance, the landlord or tenant?

If you didn't catch what we already talked about, buildings insurance and the difference between freehold and leasehold, let's go over it one more time because it's essential.

Important Note: Who pays for buildings insurance?

The owner of the property pays for the buildings insurance, not the leasehold landlord or the tenant. Tenants need their own personal insurance policy for the items that belong to them, and leasehold landlords may need a contents or loss of rent insurance policy as well as public or employers liability insurance.

That's it!

If the owner of the property insists on you pay for the buildings insurance, they are up to something and are not trustworthy at all so beware in the future because you may just want to get out of that relationship.

If you want a quote for buildings insurance, please click here.

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Summing it all up

Not having insurance is a choice you make (if you own the properties outright), but with so many risks involved of not having a policy for your properties, it's just not worth it because the price of landlord insurance policy is very affordable these days.

You can find a policy for around £100 to £120 from a reliable company.

Why don't you compare quotes and find out exactly how much your policy will cost you. You can use this system for free, and you're under no obligation to take any quote offered after you quoted.

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