Landlord Insurance - landlord Insurance is a form of building insurance contract that covers persons that own property used for rental purposes. All sorts of property can be purchased for rental purposes and used for either residential or commercial purposes. By purchasing a property for rental purposes, you become a landlord, and you  will own the freehold of the building. Landlords either rent property on a short time basis ( usually 6 months at a time of an assured short hold tenancy basis)  or on a long term as is the case in most blocks of flats, but the grant of a long term lease. Whilst landlords that own property divided in to self contained flats, usually by a block of flats insurance policy, in the case of property bought for short term rental, their are a number of insurance contacts that the landlord may purchase to protect his investment. These include:-

• Landlord insurance (for buildings)

• Landlord contents insurance 

• Emergency Assistance cover

• Rent Guarantee Cover

Landlord Insurance - a uk  landlord insurance policy is usually an extension of a standard building insurance policy, the type of  perils covered are almost identical to a normal home insurance policy, however, one of the main  differences is that cover is usually altered to include loss of rent , rather than alternative accommodation accommodation cover. This policy section is designed to protect the landlord from loss of rent following  an insured peril occurring at the property that leads to a loss of his rental income ( such as a fire or a flood). It should be noted that this  does not extend to loss of rent caused by tenant default. Most landlord properties are  now purchased with a buy to let mortgage, and as such, the lender will require that a wide range of insurance perils be covered before they lend money in respect of the property purchase. The range of perils covered is usually listed in the council for mortgage lenders handbook and most landlords insurance polices are written to make sure they comply with the requirements. Obtaining a quotation is fairly straight forward and the insurers will require to know all the usual forms of information such as the address and postcode of the property, the construction of the property, the rebuilding cost and details of any previous claims. They will also ask the type of tenant you intend to rent the property to.

In general, tenants fall in to a number of groups : Working or Professional Tenants, Students, Persons in receipt of  rent assistance or persons referred directly by the DSS or local authority or Housing Associations.  Enquiries may  be made as to whether the contract for letting is between the landlord ( or his agent) and the tenant or if it is held by a third party and the tenant. In general, insurance may be cheaper, if the landlord or his agent controls the letting process. The landlord may also have to sign a declaration confirming that he is aware of all the rules & regulations relating to the letting of property. This includes the following.

• Gas Safety Act 1998- A Corgi registered gas engineer must inspect and service all gas appliances at least once every 12 months. The engineer must issue a gas safety certificate, a copy should be kept by the landlord and one given to the tenant for their records. If any problems are found during the inspection, it is the responsibility of the landlord to have them fixed.

• Electrical Appliances & Sockets Safety Regulations 1994-  The landlord must ask a NICEIC registered contractor  to inspect and service the electrics before the property is rented out for the first time. The electrics must be checked every 5 years and the wiring should be checked every 10years.

• Furniture & Furnishings Fire & Safety Regulations 1993- The landlord must make sure that all furniture supplied in the property meets the standards of the regulations. 

As well as the above, additional requirements are needed for houses in multiple occupation ( HMOs) The rules for these properties are more stringent and landlords will have to check with their local authorities prior to letting.

Landlords Contents Insurance - If a landlord supplies his property furnished, most building polices have the option to include contents insurance. The cover will only be available in respect of contents owned and supplied by the landlord, the tenant will have to cover their own possessions. The range of perils available will usually be very similar to a home contents insurance policy with liability extended to include the supply of the contents. Usually, you can extend cover to include accidental damage by the tenant but most polices will exclude deliberate or malicious damage by the tenant

Landlords Legal Expenses - landlords Legal Expenses polices are relatively cheap to purchase and will provide valuable cover to the landlord for a variety of scenarios such as tenant default, eviction cover, defence against prosecution etc.  This is certainly a type of cover that is worthy of  consideration, most experienced landlords will tell you that they have had far more problems with tenants problems that need resolving than they do with the more usual forms of insurance claims such as fires & floods.

Rent Guarantee cover - this type of policy can be quite expensive and will cover the landlord against loss of rent caused by non-payment of the rent by the tenant. A process has to be followed to obtain cover which usually involves using the services of a tenant reference company. If you purchase this type of policy, there will usually be an excess and also a limit on the amount of rent that can be claimed.