Insurance News Archive
Home insurance 'not enough for landlords'
Landlords should "absolutely" take out specialist landlord insurance, according to industry insiders.
Standard home insurance will not always provide cover for buy-to let properties, and landlords should make sure they are protected.
Hazel Rees, account handler at insurance brokers Rawlins, said that the most important element of landlord insurance is liability.
Such a policy would cover the landlord in case someone was injured or property was damaged - as could happen if a tile fell off the roof..
And with the Council of Mortgage Lenders announcing that 171,800 buy-to-let mortgages were advanced in the first half of 2007, the recommendation applied to a lot of landlords.
She noted that specialist policies would cover all the landlord's needs.
"There's cover on the building itself, landlord's contents that are in there, and public liability. Those are the main [areas] that you need as a landlord. Then there's also extra cover that you can take out for legal expenses," she said.
Ms Rees added that having only standard home insurance could lead to problems for the landlord.
"[If] the insurance company is not aware that the property is let out, that could cause some problems in the event of a claim… [Cover could be invalidated] depending on the circumstances," she said.
25 Oct 2007
