Landlord Insurance

mel1905

Hi,
Just wanted a bit of advice, firstly I'm renting out my house in the next couple of weeks and will therefore need some landlord insurance... what are the basics I need to make sure I'm covered for?

Also, I paid in full for a buildings/contents policy back in Spet 09 when I was living there.. what happens to this? Should I cancel or leave it in place? If I cancel it will I get a refund for the rest of the year?

Thanks in advance,

Sally_A

Mine is with Vasek...basic, but quite good compared to others.

mel1905

Thanks I'll have a look at them

G_M

Ask your current insurer if they amend/extend the policy to include landlords cover.
Google 'landlord insurance' and get comparative quotes.
Join a landlords association (tax deductable) and get discounted cover.
Read the small print to compare the extent of all these covers as well as the premiums.
Read landlordzone - a great site.
Make sure you've complied not just with appropriate insurance, but the multitude of other requirements - gas safety, mortgagee permission, deposit protection etc etc etc

benjaminM

mel1905 wrote: »

Hi,
Just wanted a bit of advice, firstly I'm renting out my house in the next couple of weeks and will therefore need some landlord insurance... what are the basics I need to make sure I'm covered for?

Also, I paid in full for a buildings/contents policy back in Spet 09 when I was living there.. what happens to this? Should I cancel or leave it in place? If I cancel it will I get a refund for the rest of the year?

Thanks in advance,

You just need a standard property owners insurance policy. The policy should cover you for:

The building sum insured
The contents sum insured (if required)
Accidental damage (if required)
Property owners liability
Loss of rent

All the above are standard stuff. As mentioned above Vasek are very good, you could also try Towergate. Your best bet is to use a broker, do a search on google.

Just to let you know, the tenants you have will have an affect on the premium. The lowest rates are typically for professional or working tenants, expect to pay more for DSS or students.

With regards to your existing policy you need to cancel it because it probably does not cover you for letting. Hopefully you'll get a pro rata refund.

Hope this helps

slowfastcars

Here's a list of phone numbers of landlord insurance providers, they're all pretty competative, its worth shopping around for the best deal.

Endsleigh.... 0800 028 3571
Direct Line... 0845 370 4237
More Than....0800 294 2416
Quoteline....0870 066 7500
Simply Business... 0845 602 3165
Tesco..... 0845 300 9900
NatWest..... 0800 051 0562
hope this helps

lawson0573

Again- not necessarily the cheapest- you need to check the level of rent covered as some policies set limitations, do they cover you for the expenses of a Section 21 eviction, and some insurers if you have a 6 mth tenancy agreement for instance, will only pay out up to the end of the 6 months and not beyond- no good if you have non-paying sitting tenants going through the S21 eviction as this can take up to 3 months. You also need to check the excess as some will say back to day one, and others will be that you forego the first month and they they pay out in arrears.