Landlords Building Insurance for the UK Landlord

You may already have cover for buildings if you have a leasehold property but check the terms and conditions. If not read on to find out how to get the best landlord building insurance for your rental property in the UK.

Being a landlord can be a financially rewarding experience as demand increases in the UK as the housing market continues its slump, but your property is at risk of damage, both intentional and accidental, and it is very important that you have adequate landlord building insurance in place. Without it you risk losing your property and income if you are unlucky enough to fall victim to any of the major risks to your property.

What are the main risks to my Property?

Natural and man-made damage to your property can include the following:

Fire: The BBC has reported just this month that house fires have gone up by almost a third since the start of the year. While not offering an explanation for this, other that the very cold winter, the phenomena it is worrying for a landlord who has less control over his rented property than his own home.

Storm & Flood: With all the talk of global warming seems to have come an increase in the number of severe storms and floods around the world, including the UK. It’s been suggested that the cost of flood damage is due to rise 20 fold in the UK over the next century, so if you are in an area that is, or may in the future be, susceptible to flooding you need to cover yourself against this.

Burst Pipes: Like a mini local flood a simple burst pipe can wreak havoc with your furnishings and household equipment. This winter has seen an epidemic of burst pipes due to the severe cold which hit Europe.

Impacts from vehicles: I personally have seen a bus embedded in the side of a house in West London and it was not a pretty sight. The house had been virtually demolished. This dramatic kind of impact is rare but less damaging collisions do happen quite often.

Accidental damage: Accidents will happen and windows and other less fragile parts of your house can be damaged unintentionally.

Malicious damage: It may seem odd that people would damage your property on purpose but you can never be sure of the character of your tenants. Malicious damage does happen to rented property either by the tenants or their invited (or uninvited) guests.

Earthquake: Although most people don’t not consider earthquakes a real threat to British property there have been nine in the UK in the first six weeks of 2011. Quakes big enough to damage property are rare but do happen roughly every 25 years, the latest being in 2008 (5.2 magnitude).

What will affect my Landlord Buildings Insurance Premiums ?

A host of factors will determine the cost of your policy. The company you buy from, the types of tenants you have in your properties (students scoring much lower than professional, employed persons), any pervious claims that have been made on other policies and the local areas where the properties are located. For example, building located in areas that are, or have become, prone to flooding will be more expensive to insure.

As with most financial products you can compare providers easiest by going online to the usual comparison sites, but while the cost of the insurance and the exact details of the cover they provide are important you also need to know how good the companies are at dealing with their customers, especially when you make a claim.

How to find good Landlord Building Insurance

You can usually only find out this kind of information by talking to people who have already had experience with claiming. The Internet can also help here as there are also review sites on which happy or disgruntled customers post their opinions on the companies with which they do business. If you are a member of a business club or landlord association you can probably meet other business users face to face at social or business meetings. Word of mouth is still an important way of choosing the insurance company that provides the best service.

So, whether you are a new landlord renting a former family home or am established landlord with an extensive portfolio of products, having good and reliable landlord building insurance will let you sleep easy at night and allow you to concentrate on the profitable parts of your business.