Landlords Insurance / Rent Indemnity

archie9uk

Not sure if this is best posted here or on one of the property boards, but I'll try here first.
I am letting out my previous home (rather than selling in the current climate) and I will be changing to a different agent in April, when the first six month tenancy comes to an end. I have been paying a Rent Indemnity Policy through my current agent, which would provide legal cover, and would cover lost rental income if my tenants didn't pay their rent etc. When I change to a new agent, I assume I will not be able to carry on with this policy so will need to take out something else. I have looked at landlords insurance but I am a bit confused. The property I am letting is a leasehold maisonette, and the buildings insurance is taken out through the freeholder, but landlords insurance includes buildings insurance. Am I in a position where I am going to have to pay for two lots of buildings insurance? Or is there an alternative type of policy?
(By the way, there is no chance of me reconsidering changing agents, as the current ones have messed me about and overcharged me, so there is no way I would stay with them.)

dacouch

You should be fine with the cover the freeholder / managing agent has arranged as these normally allow for rentals as they are designed for blocks of flats so they expect some of the leaseholders to rent out.

They sometimes have problems if your tenants are Asylum Seekers, DHSS Tenants or Students so if they fall into any of these categories speak to the Insurers.

It would be worth checking (Prob best get it in writing) that the building policy includes "Loss of Rental Income" this covers your loss of rental income following a damage claim eg a fire (It does not cover losing rent because your tenant cannot pay you etc).

There are plenty of companies that offer rent guarantee cover and they will probably be cheaper than you are paying the estate agent. It is worth reading the policy as these policies commonly have a period where they exclude payment say the first 30 days of the tenant not paying and then often only pay until the end of the tenancy eg max 6 months but obviously can be a lot less. So work out how much premium you are paying and how much you could feasibly claim if you had a problem to make sure the figures add up.

It is worth keeping the Landlords Legal Cover as these help with a wealth of issues, they typically cost betweeb £35 and £60.

haggle_2

archie9uk, Landlords insurance rules and offers seems to change much faster than consumer insurance. All I think we can do is keep up to date with blog, the law and landlords insurance.