Do I Need Landlord Insurance if I Live in the Property?

Do I need landlord insurance if I live in the property?

Any landlord does the best they can to try and minimize the risk that comes with owning property. After having read through this page you will have a better understanding of landlord home insurance and everything it entails. So you can think: Do I need landlord insurance if I live in the property?

Types of Cover

Building Insurance

Protecting your buildings is vital. Structural damage can be financially devastating if you don’t have cover in place so building insurance should always be part of your policy. Building insurance will provide protection against your building becoming damaged due to natural disasters such as fire and flooding.

Unoccupied Property Insurance

There are times when one or more your properties may be unoccupied for an extended period of time. When your property is left unoccupied the risk of it being targeted by vandals, thieves and squatters increases dramatically. For this reason it’s always a good idea to try and avoid this scenario but if you do have property that’s currently unoccupied for any reason then you certainly want to get it covered with unoccupied property insurance.

Legal Fees

If you have to fight a liability claim then having legal fees included as part of your cover will seem like an extremely worthwhile investment. The expense of fighting a liability claim can add up very quickly, especially if things drag on so it’s always a good idea to have it included in your policy.

Public Liability

Whilst legal fees will cover the expense of fighting a claim, you also need to have cover in case the claim goes against you and you have to pay compensation. Public liability will cover for such a scenario and you’ll certainly be glad you have it if this happens.

Preventing Claims

Whilst getting insurance gives you protection, it’s always better to avoid problems wherever possible. Some excellent ways to do this include:

Secure your properties

Making your properties as secure as possible will greatly reduce the chance of them being broken into or vandalized. This in turn will make you less likely to make a claim and allow you to save money on your policy. There are many ways that you can make your property more secure such as having secure doors fitted and installing alarms and CCTV. All these measures will make your property less susceptible to burglary and vandalism so it’s definitely worth doing.

Be picky with your tenants

A lot of the claims that landlords make have to do with problem tenants. Therefore it’s always wise to be as picky as possible when letting out your property. It can be difficult to judge who will be reliable and who will not just from meeting tenants so it’s always recommended that you find out as much information as possible and do background checks. Finding out any potential tenant’s employment status is very important. Tenants who are employed in a stable job that they’ve been at for some time are much less likely to pose problems where paying rent is concerned.

Try to keep your properties occupied

There’s no doubt that properties that are unoccupied for extended periods of time are at much greater risk. Therefore you should do your utmost to ensure that your properties are not unoccupied for any extended length of time. If you property is going to be unoccupied for a period of 30 days or longer then you’ll certainly want to have it protected with unoccupied property insurance.

Buy property in low crime areas

It’s much better to buy property that’s in low crime areas. It will make your property less likely to broken into and therefore enable you to save money when you’re getting your landlord home insurance. Insurance providers will certainly look at the area your property is located so try to avoid buying property in or near areas with high crime.

The Benefits of Landlord Home Insurance

Getting landlord home insurance online comes with many benefits, such as.

Insure all your properties under one policy 

If you want to insure more than one property under the same policy then this is usually not an issue. Providing your properties are residential, you’ll be able to add them to the same policy, which not only makes things much easier to manage but often works out cheaper too.

All types of cover available

Another great benefit of getting cover online is that you’re able to highly tailor your policy to suit your exact needs. You can get additional types of cover such as rent guarantee and legal expenses included to give you full peace of mind.

Easy claims process 

It’s always comforting to know that should you need to make a claim on your policy that the process will be quick and painless. This is what you can expect when you take a policy out with one of the providers on the panel.

Expert advice

Should you need to speak to someone to clarify an insurance option or just get general advice, then there’s always someone available.

Instant cover and documentation 

As soon as you pay for the policy, you’ll be covered immediately and be provided with the correct documentation.