Back to: The Landlord Insurance Course
Tessa Shepperson is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (ref 301081).
Tessa and Easy Law Services Ltd do not provide insurance or financial advice. The information here is for educational purposes only and all examples are for illustrative purposes only. The content been approved by Alan Boswell Group. Tessa will receive a small share of the commission for insurance purchased from Alan Boswell Group. If calling them, please quote Tessa’s agent number 3405 to help track the introduction.
Welcome to this final part of this insurance course.
We have now covered all the main areas, so it just remains for me to wrap up the course by giving you some final guidance and our checklist for use when looking for insurance.
Let’s have the checklist first:
1. Does the insurance cover all of the following:
- Buildings and contents
- Automatic cover for carpets, curtains, fixtures, fittings and all white goods
- Fire, flood, etc
- Loss of rent and alternative accommodation
- Terrorism
- Malicious damage by tenants
- Subsidence
- Accidental damage
- Public and employers liability
Further to these
- What is the maximum payout for the loss of rent element?
- Are you in a flood risk area and if so are you covered?
- How many days are you covered for voids / unoccupancy?
- What is the limit for liability claims and does it include employers liability?
2. So far as conditions and fees are concerned:
- Are any classes of person (eg students) excluded from cover, and if so which?
- If so, what happens to your cover if a tenant falls into one of those categories without your knowledge?
- Ask for a list of all fees and the circumstances under which they will be incurred
- Find out what the general excess figure is, and
- If there are any higher excess fees for specific perils – and if so what the perils are and what the relevant excess fees are
- Is there any ‘premium loading’ for your policy due to your postcode?
- What is your sum assured – is it sufficient? Have you included everything which needs to be covered in the calculation of the sum assured?
Make sure you read carefully all the paperwork provided to you – you will be able to cancel the policy later on if need be, but you will incur costs – e.g. a pro-rata premium and, potentially, fees.
3. Damage by tenants
- Does your policy cover you for tenant damage caused by converting your property to a cannabis farm or the like?
- If so are there any conditions?
- Have you made sure that your tenants are bound by any conditions set out in your insurance policy terms and conditions?
4. Claims
- Does your insurer have a UK based claims team?
- What is the procedure for making a claim and are there any time limits?
- Are you entitled to arrange for emergency remedial works, for example, if the problem occurs over a weekend?
- Can you use your own contractor, or do you have to use someone from their approved list?
In the next and final section we discuss some important points to remember about insurance.
