Renting out your property? Not sure what insurance you need to have? Worried about people potentially damaging your property? Don’t worry, we’ve written a simple guide with everything you need to know.
Make sure you have the right cover
If you are renting out your property, you need to make sure you have special landlord insurance. If you have a standard building and contents insurance policy under your name and something goes wrong, your insurance provider may not pay out for any damages occurred. If you are looking to purchase a policy, check out our Budget Insurance Landlord Insurance policy.
Keep your insurance provider up to date
It’s important that you keep your insurance provider up to date with any changes that are happening, including any change in tenants and whether the property is empty or not. Most insurance policies have a clause if the property is empty for 30 consecutive days, they will not provide cover. So, it’s worth reading your full terms and conditions properly.
Loss of rent
People can be unpredictable at the best of times, but don’t leave yourself out of pocket if your tenant fails to pay rent. When choosing a Landlord policy, make sure it covers loss of rent in the event of either your tenants not paying or an accident that makes the property inhabitable. Loss of rent is particularly important if you have a larger mortgage on the property you let and rely on the extra income to pay the mortgage, so make sure you are properly protected.
Sum insured
Always make sure you check the sum insured carefully, as this is the maximum you can claim if the property is completely wrecked. You need to get this figure right as if your sum insured is too small, then you could have to foot the bill for the repairs. However, if the sum insured is too high, you could be paying more than necessary for your cover. The sum insured figure should cover the total amount it would cost to rebuild the house. Some policies offer unlimited cover, but just be mindful and make sure you check what you are buying.