What is landlord insurance?
Landlord insurance provides cover for your property - both the building itself and any furnishings you’ve provided. It can also protect your rental income and cover your liabilities if your tenants are injured on your property and you are deemed to be at fault.
Do I need landlord insurance?
Landlord insurance is a specialist policy that provides more cover than normal home insurance. Indeed, a standard home insurance might be invalidated if your property is let to tenants.
Additionally, if you’re taking out a buy-to-let mortgage your lender might require you to have landlord insurance in order to qualify for the loan.
What does landlord insurance cover?
In addition to cover for general risks such as fire and storm damage to the building, landlord insurance policies offer cover for:
- Accidental damage – if your tenants damage your property unintentionally
- Malicious damage – if your tenants intentionally damage your property
- Employer’s liability – if you employ people in your property who then become injured as a result of your negligence
- Property owner’s liability – if you are deemed liable for damage or injury suffered by third parties arising from your ownership of the property
- Unoccupied property cover – if you have no tenants for a period of time and therefore aren’t getting rental income
- Loss of rent – if your tenants are unable to pay their rent
You can learn more about the different levels of coverage a landlord policy can provide with our guide to landlord insurance.
*According to data collected by CIA Landlord Insurance, between May - July, 2018.
Reducing the cost of landlord insurance
The cost of landlord insurance depends on a number of factors, some of which won’t be under your control. For example, your tenant’s employment status and the location of your property can affect how much you’ll pay.
Other factors that affect the cost of landlord insurance include:
- Property condition – if your property is in good repair this may reduce your likelihood of claiming, and therefore could mean you pay lower premiums.
- Security measures – increased security measures also reduce the chance you’d have to claim.
- Level of cover – taking out additional levels of cover will increase the price of the policy.
- Your claims history – if you make a high number of claims over the years, you’re likely to pay more.
*According to data collected by CIA Landlord Insurance, between May - July, 2018.
Landlord insurance FAQs
Here are some commonly asked questions about being a landlord and landlord insurance:
As a landlord you have certain legal responsibilities to your tenants. This includes keeping your property up to scratch with maintenance and repairs, following basic safety standards, and ensuring you treat your tenants fairly in terms of rent and privacy. You also have to pay tax if your rental income is above a certain amount – read more about your responsibilities as a landlord.
As a landlord there’s always the risk that a tenant might refuse or not be able to pay rent. While this can cause problems, there are things you can do to protect your rental income – see what your options are with our guide to rent guarantee insurance.
*According to data collected by CIA Landlord Insurance, between May - July, 2018.
Sometimes tenants can cause problems, whether it’s not paying rent on time or not respecting your property. However, as a landlord there are steps you can take to resolve these issues – and evicting isn’t always the only option. Landlord insurance can help in situations like this as it could provide cover for lost rent as well as repair costs and legal fees – learn more about what you can do with our guide to nuisance tenants.
You might want to manage your property yourself, but if not you have the option of choosing a letting agent, who can do a number of things for you including finding tenants and maintaining your property. There are things to consider before picking the agent you want to use – find out more in our letting agent guide.
If you let more than one property you might consider yourself a professional landlord, as in you’ve made a career out of buying and letting properties. As a result you might feel like your investments need extra protection, which is where insurance can come in – learn more about how professional landlord cover can protect you.
As a landlord, before 2017 you could make more of a profit from your investment by using your rental income to offset your mortgage interest payments. However, the rules have now changed – see how you could be affected with our page on buy-to-let tax relief.
Finding the right property in the right location is key to making a profit from your property investment. This can be hugely important especially if the bulk of your income comes from rent, or if a significant amount of your money went into the investment, so there are plenty of things you should consider when choosing a buy-to-let property.
As a landlord you’re required to pay stamp duty on properties you buy, but since 2016 the rules changed – now both landlords and second home purchasers must pay an extra three percentage points of stamp duty on each band of property pricing – learn more about the changes in buy-to-let stamp duty.
In July 2018 plans for new landlord legislation were published which will change the way you can offer tenancies as well as impacting the fees you can charge your tenants. There are also new regulations for energy efficiency, tax benefits, and deposit caps – read about the new landlord legislation.
Guide to landlord insurance
Finding the right policy for your properties and your own individual needs is crucial. Take a look at our landlord insurance guide to make sure your policy covers all the bases.
When you’ve decided on the level of cover you need, you can find cover via our preferred provider, CIA landlord insurance.
How does this work?
Moneysupermarket has teamed up with CIA Insurance Services, who offer an external landlord insurance comparison service. CIA Insurance Services are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA reference 309407)