Home Insurance Guide – 5/8

In part five we start to look at specialist insurance options such as flood risk cover and home insurance for landlords and tenants.

Flood risk cover

In recent times flooding has become one of the leading news stories in the UK. Due to climate changes, floods are becoming more frequent and more devastating in nature. Consequently, home insurance flood-risk cover is more and more important, but also increasingly expensive for those in flood-risk areas.

The Environment Agency carries a flood map indicating areas that are under threat from flooding. If you live in one of these areas it is vital to take measures to protect your property in order to cut home insurance premiums and the Environment Agency has issued a ‘Preparing for Floods’ guidance document that contains advice on simple, low-cost measures to limit damage.

Among the suggestions to help cut premiums are:

• Making sure important equipment and valuables are stored in dry areas.
• Consider temporary flood barriers.
• Consider fitting valves to prevent sewage flowing backwards.
• Use materials that are more flood-resistant on floors, walls, etc.
• Raise gas appliances and sockets above flood level.
• Install flood defences within the landscaping of housing developments.

Clearly some of these suggestions are for builders rather than homeowners, but it is worth seeing how many are in place to help you secure cheaper home insurance.

Landlord’s insurance

Landlord’s home insurance is varied by nature. All landlords will need to have buildings insurance but contents insurance is available to a varying degree depending on how the property is furnished.

Here are some of the additional options available to landlords:

• Emergency Assistance – This covers the cost of a contractor’s call-out up to a maximum limit (for example £500) for work done. It will not cover incidents arising from a lack of routine maintenance.
• Legal Cover – Cover for legal expenses to assist with issues such as tenants not paying rent, failure to leave a property or unauthorised inhabitants, etc.
• Rent Guarantee – This pays the rent you are expecting if the tenant refuses to pay while vacant possession is obtained and for three months until a new tenant is found.

Tenant’s insurance

With more and more people priced out of the housing market it has become crucial for home insurance companies to specifically cover the needs of tenants who have different needs from the average homeowner as they generally do not have to insure the building and only have to insure a limited number of contents.

By taking out a regular homeowners insurance policy, a tenant will generally face a higher premium than they need. A specific policy should match your needs more accurately and also allow for additional options including home emergency cover.

In part six we will continue to look at some of the specialist home insurance options available.