What exactly is Landlords Building Insurance?
The world of insurance is a place that people normally visit only briefly – usually when a policy is up for renewal. Here at click4quote.com we understand that many of our customers and potential customers are very busy, and don’t always have a lot of time to distinguish between the various different policy types available. The precise nature of landlords buildings insurance is no exception, so here we’ll outline what sets it apart from other insurance products.
In the case of click4Quote, this type of insurance has been especially developed for landlords with multiple properties. Such a policy aims to save the landlord money by keeping the management of all the policies in one place. This has the added benefit of giving the landlord just a single renewal date to worry about, and of course, all claims will go through Click4Quote – which should mean a more familiar, straight-forward claiming experience.
Normal landlord insurance, at least in the case of Click4Quote, covers just a single property.
As well as cover for events you would expect to be covered for, such as fire, theft, storm, flood, explosion, escape of oil and water, subsidence, landslip and heave, the policy also provides landlord-specific cover for loss of rent and cost of alternative accommodation (also 20% of sum insured). It also offer the optional cover for theft and malicious damage by tenants (up to full sum insured).
Find out more about click4quote insurance competitively priced landlords building insurance.
Row over flood cover
News coverage of floods in various parts of the country recently will have prompted landlords to check up on their flood cover. To make things worse, a dispute has broken out about paying for flood defences and this may make it very difficult to secure cover on homes in areas that might flood.
An agreement between the government and the insurance industry means that insurance is available in risky areas but this is due to end in June 2013. The insurers are saying that they will stop issuing policies a year earlier than this unless the government agrees to fund flood defences in the areas at risk. This means that some people could find themselves being unable to buy cover from July 2012 onwards because the insures do not want policies in place that could run on until after the agreement ends.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders says that millions of people could find themselves in difficulties with their mortgage lenders because it is a condition of a mortgage that insurance is in place. Concerns about the availability of cover could deter prospective purchasers so householders could find themselves trapped in houses and struggling to find insurance and finance.
Landlord insurance clients might look for opportunities to pick up bargains in the hope of achieving a high rental yield because the purchase price was low. This could be a false economy if the house is uninsurable and therefore unmortgageable. A tempting yield is only one part of the picture for buy to let landlords. Considerations such as insurance, finance and the eventual resale value must all be taken into account.
London homeowners cash in on Olympics
Thousands of homeowners across London are preparing to cash in on the Olympic Games – by renting out their properties to people from the UK and overseas who prefer to live in a more domestic environment instead of an expensive hotel. That’s not to say that many of the properties for rent are low end – far from it. But the undeniable privacy and cosier ‘homestay’ aspect of such rentals appears to be very popular, according to estate agents.
With many families across London leaving the city for the summer, renting out their property seems to be a perfect way to earn some extra cash. And with asking prices reportedly surpassing the £4000 per week mark, it’s little wonder there is so much interest.
Estate agents across the capital say there have been many enquiries regarding these options, with many deciding between either an expensive hotel such as the Dorchester, or a private home.
According to some figures, there are already 140,000 room available across London, and with the increasing capacity coming from private renters, there is a considerable chance that rental prices will be pushed down.
In terms of insurance – whether you have normal domestic home insurance, holiday home insurance or one of the various other property insurance products on the market – you’ll need to read the terms and conditions of your policy thoroughly to find out where you stand, or whether you need to take out additional cover.
How valuable are price comparison sites?
When it comes to buying any kind of insurance, whether it’s car, travel, let property insurance – or one of the numerous other policy types available – the sheer volume of information on the internet can be overwhelming. And things can get even more confusing once price comparison sites come into the picture.
Is the cheapest policy the best option?
Price comparison sites play up to what is, understandably, a very big concern among those choosing insurance – namely, how much it costs. While this is naturally on the minds of many, it shouldn’t deflect attention from what the product is there to do – insure you against unwanted events.
So is selecting the cheapest cover the best idea? Many would argue – particularly those who have been stung by policies that weren’t what they expected – that you should draw up a list of what you want or need from a policy, and then go about seeking the most appropriate product. Once short list is drawn up, it might be the right time to look into the best price.
Insurance is not a one-size-fits-all affair, and it might be advisable to look for the ‘best-fitting’ policy, before looking to save money, however big a concern that might be. From this viewpoint, the price comparison site might not always be the most useful insurance-finding tool.
Click4quote insurance not only offer great prices and will beat any like for like quote, the policy they offer can cater for your cover needs such as accidental damage and theft / malicious damage by tenants. Cover is just as important as price.
Short term landlords unaware of safety rules?
In the last twelve months the Health and Safety Executive has brought criminal charges against 13 property landlords for gas safety offences. One landlord received a six month jail term and the highest fine was a massive £24,000.
The Gas Safe Register is worried that people may not realise that even if you are only letting out a property for a short period you are still under a legal duty to comply with the gas safety regulations. With the Olympics taking place soon many property owners are being tempted to move out and rent their homes to visitors. Our cheap landlord insurance clients will be very well aware of the need for the necessary checks and paperwork but newcomers to the letting business might think they can get away with just handing over the keys and taking the money. This could be a terrible mistake. The gas regulations are in place to keep the tenants safe and to give the landlord peace of mind. In one recent case a landlord was prosecuted when the tenant had to be hospitalised with carbon dioxide poisoning.
As well as complying with the safety regulations covering things like gas, electricity and furnishings it is important that the property owner checks with the mortgage lenders and insurers to make sure they are happy with the proposed letting.
The Gas Safety Register is the body that certifies gas fitters. Make sure that any contractor working on your let property is properly accredited by them.
Do you need party insurance for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee?
The world of insurance is constantly changing and expanding, with new insurance products becoming available all the time, not least within the realm of property insurance. But one type of insurance that you may not be familiar with is that of ‘street party insurance’, or similarly titled products.
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is not far off, and with it has come the appearance (or re-emergence) of insurance for street parties. It should be noted first of all that such an insurance policy is not required in order to hold a street party, but some organisers are considering taking one out.
Local councils have so far reported that 3,500 applications for street parties have been received, with countless others planned for private venues and pieces of land.
While taking out a specific insurance policy for such an event may seem a little over the top to some, the Association of British Insurers have put together a checklist for organisers as regards insurance and safety, which can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.abi.org.uk/Information/Consumers/61567.pdf
Among the pieces of advice it offers are: ensure the planned venue can handle the number of people expected, and check if entertainers – such as bouncy castle firms – have suitable insurance. They also suggest finding out who is responsible for policing fire and personal safety measures, and whether or not the venue possesses public liability cover.
UK insurer Aviva fires 1300 staff worldwide
Think the world of insurance doesn’t have its fair share of amusing mis-haps? Think again. Aviva plc, the world’s sixth largest insurer, has had its rivals from New York to Hong Kong grinning quietly to themselves – since the firm accidentally fired 1300 staff.
The grand firing was carried out by email, in a message which asked each recipient to ensure they returned all company property before leaving the building. It also reminded them of confidentiality agreements as regards any information they held about the company. According to the firm, the human resources department was quick to send out apologies to recipients of the email.
The mass email was, according to Aviva, meant to be for a single person in the Investors staff, but the entire Investors team somehow received the bad news. It’s not clear if the intended person’s name was revealed to the 1,300 recipients.
The Daily Telegraph was first to report on the debacle, which was blamed on an administrative error.
Paul Lockstone, spokesman for the London-based insurer, explained: “Unfortunately, as a result of a clerical error, it [the email] was sent to all of the Investors staff worldwide.”
So it seems that the world of insurance – from travel to car to holiday home insurance – can be a little bit more entertaining than some might believe!
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Landlords say housing allowance cuts make renting unaffordable
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was reduced a year ago and the maximum rent benefit is now 30% of the local average market rent whereas previously it was 50%. In some areas of the country, especially parts of London this means that it is very difficult for LHA tenants to rent properties. Another change is that the age at which tenants on benefits qualify for more than a single room in a shared house has been increased from 25 to 35.
The National Landlords Association has just come out with the results of a survey that will be interesting o those landlord insurance clients who rent to tenants on benefits. The NLA say that 53% of the landlords who responded said that the cut in LHA mean that it is unaffordable to let out homes to people on benefits. Just under half said that they thought that tenants under the age of 35 will be hit hardest by the changes and nearly 70% said they cannot see themselves letting to LHA tenants in 2015.
The chairman of the National Landlords Association commented:
“It’s concerning that so many landlords appear to be planning to withdraw from the LHA market within just three years. In view of the pressure on housing, the private-rented sector will inevitably play an increasingly important role in providing housing to LHA tenants, particularly those aged under 35, who aren’t able to access other housing”.
We are always interested in hearing from our landlord clients about the way they see the market going. What do you think about these changes?