kanrent Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 My rental property insurance is due soon Has anyone got any advice on what the cover should include Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 I'm of the opinion that there is never a 'should' where insurance is concerned......it's entirely optional unless specifically required by a lender or other official body. * Leasehold property usually includes building insurance, so there is no need to buy it if covered by your service charges. * Contents insurance is really up to the landlord.......it's a choice. * Rent Guarantee insurance ........is only needed if you don't have a guarantor. I've always viewed anything else as a total waste of money. Someone will be along shortly with a totally different view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 Landlord Liability insurance is always a must for me having coming across a couple of times tenants trying to make claim. One which was clearly fraud and the other an inflated money making excise (still on-going). The one that was fabricated was still paid out because it was cheaper than defending in court according to the insurance company. Tenants got about 10k+ I think. If there wasn't insurance in place I would have had to either make a commercial decision and pay out of my pocket or risk going to court and unlikely recovering any costs even if I won. Trouble is if you are a leaseholder the block insurance may have some liability cover but you will unlikely have any control over the level of cover or scope of cover as the freehold arranges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted February 28, 2023 Report Share Posted February 28, 2023 All my property insurances are due in March including my own property. At least I don't forget as they are all due on my birthday. Happy Birthday Mel. 😀 I suppose I have always considered BTL insurance as essential as it's a hell of an investment to lose if you don't have insurance in place. I always tailor the insurance to the tenant and that includes loss of rent and legal cover as well. Direct Line were my insurance company for a few years and the cover was very good but their premiums steadily rose to an uncompetitive rate so for the last 2 years I am with SAGA Landlord Insurance and their cover is pretty comprehensive and I am just waiting to see what the renewal charges will be this year. I have been with many insurance company's over the past 30 plus years and I have never made a claim so to answer the question it is up to you, the landlord, to insure your property for what you consider is suitable for your needs and your tenant......but just don't skimp on the cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielscott Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 Thanks for the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted March 17, 2023 Report Share Posted March 17, 2023 On 2/28/2023 at 7:19 AM, Melboy said: All my property insurances are due in March including my own property. At least I don't forget as they are all due on my birthday. Happy Birthday Mel. 😀 I suppose I have always considered BTL insurance as essential as it's a hell of an investment to lose if you don't have insurance in place. I always tailor the insurance to the tenant and that includes loss of rent and legal cover as well. Direct Line were my insurance company for a few years and the cover was very good but their premiums steadily rose to an uncompetitive rate so for the last 2 years I am with SAGA Landlord Insurance and their cover is pretty comprehensive and I am just waiting to see what the renewal charges will be this year. I have been with many insurance company's over the past 30 plus years and I have never made a claim so to answer the question it is up to you, the landlord, to insure your property for what you consider is suitable for your needs and your tenant......but just don't skimp on the cover. The trouble with insurance you never know how good it is until you try to make a claim or if a tenant tries to make a claim against you. The one expirenace I had with rent guarentee insurance was mixed. Yes they paid up however to comply with the policy I had to inform the insurance every month within a tight timeframe of a coupleish days of when the rent was overdue, fill out a form and provide a rent schedule and details of any contact with the tenant. I got the impression failing to do this within the timeframe would be used as an excuse not to pay up. That is all well and good but we all know you can sometimes give a couple of days grace to pay the rent late when in comunication with a tenant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanrent Posted March 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2023 On 3/17/2023 at 4:01 PM, Grampa said: The trouble with insurance you never know how good it is until you try to make a claim or if a tenant tries to make a claim against you. The one expirenace I had with rent guarentee insurance was mixed. Yes they paid up however to comply with the policy I had to inform the insurance every month within a tight timeframe of a coupleish days of when the rent was overdue, fill out a form and provide a rent schedule and details of any contact with the tenant. I got the impression failing to do this within the timeframe would be used as an excuse not to pay up. That is all well and good but we all know you can sometimes give a couple of days grace to pay the rent late when in comunication with a tenant. One of my ex tenants was a loss adjuster for an insurance company, he told me his job was to find a way to weasel out of paying the claim. Later turned out he was very good at weasling out of paying the rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted March 18, 2023 Report Share Posted March 18, 2023 That's why you need RGI or a home owning guarantor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted March 19, 2023 Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 On 3/18/2023 at 11:57 AM, kanrent said: One of my ex tenants was a loss adjuster for an insurance company, he told me his job was to find a way to weasel out of paying the claim. Many years a ago I knew a solicitor who dealt solely with insurance claims. She told me Sun Alliance (now RSA) were by far the worst company for trying to wriggle out of paying out on insurance claims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted March 20, 2023 Report Share Posted March 20, 2023 So insurance as well as taking some of our limited profits will need to be administrated to set up, and then continually administrated for iffy tenants. Come claim time we need administrate a claim and feasibly enter into a conflict. The additional risk of paying for legal representation to fight for a claim is likely to be too much of a risk for the potential award, imo. I've had many guarantors and the greatest value has been when one tells a wayward tenant they will get a slap for putting them in a detrimental position. The deterrent is their advantage, as is the possibility they will pay where a tenant has failed. The home owning bit does mean they have something to attack, but having been in court where a guarantor claimed, w/o demonstration, that they had a serious illness (that shouldn't have bearing imo) they received full sympathy from the judge. The hearing was manipulated with a finding in my favour that still meant I got nowt. I have a situation where the elderly and genuinely infirm guarantor has requested to resign as such, I didn't accept. I would be wasting more money and effort going to any court, it may be that he will agree a settlement. In short a court will perceive we can afford the loss, as we have carried it for many months prior to court anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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