Landlords Insurance: Information on Tenants in house
landlords insurance picture

If you want a Free instant landlords insurance quote with cheap low cost rates and cover for UK buildings and contents.

The  premium for Landlords insurance depends on the types of tenant occupying the building - or if the property is unoccupied or vacant. Landlords wanting insurance in the UK should make sure they find the right sort of tenant and will have to tell their insurers if the type of tenant changes. As a UK landlords insurance broker we can offer affordable cover with several companies. Below are some of the categories of tenants for which we can obtain immediate low cost quotes online. If you use the link above you will obtain a free instant cheap online quote for all the different types of tenants. We offer a range of providers of buildings cover and they can also cover your contents as well (though not the tenants). Many policies can also quote with accidental damage cover for professional lets q.v.

  1. Professional Let Property

Landlords insurance is cheap when the house is let to a professional let - the tenant is in full time employment and the agreement is one of at least six months duration whereby the tenant pays the rent direct to the landlord. Property insurance is the cheapest - and more companies quote, because they perceive the tenant as being  a better moral hazard. Property owners with a professional let will need to check that the occupation of the tenant is acceptable to the insurer. 

Please note we have available an income protection policy that you can take out on your tenant. If your tenant becomes unable to pay the rent due to accident, sickness or unemployment then this policy will pay the rent for up to a year. you can arrange the policy in your name and make the tenant pay the premium as part of the rental agreement. Please click here for more information about rates, terms and conditions for our income protection policy.

  1. Subsidised Let Property

In a subsidised home let the tenant still has the agreement with the property owner and the agreement is normally for at least 6 months however, due to financial situations, the tenant is unable to pay the rent in full, with the balance being paid by the DSS. Examples of such agreements could be people on low income, such as pensioners, or unemployed / unable to work due to incapacity. Some property insurance companies will accept people on low incomes but not the unemployed for this sort of let.

  1. Property Let to students

Property let to students has the characteristic that for much of the year the property may be unoccupied . The landlords insurance rates reflect this increased risk  as well as the fact that the students, shall we say, may not be quite as careful in looking after the property and the final cost for the owner may depend on whether or not there is cooking in rooms or shared facilities. Also, of course, it is likely that there will be regular change of tenants. 

  1. Short period let property

Landlords needing insurance on short period let property will find the premiums expensive. As the tenant frequently changes there may be many times when the property is unoccupied. We are restricted in the number of suppliers and the terms may be more restrictive than for 'better' lets. For our property insurance for landlords click here

  1. Let to DSS or Housing Associations

Whilst it cannot be denied that property let to the DSS or Housing Associations can be lucrative, landlords insurance for the property is even more restricted. The reason for this is that you do not have any say in the type of tenant that may go into the property and thus runs the risk of damage to the property caused by the tenant. 

  1. Asylum Seekers

Unsurprisingly landlords insurance for property containing asylum seekers is  the most expensive. Very few companies provide cover on property used by Asylum seekers (The agreement of course is between the owner and the DSS as Asylum seekers cannot enter into agreements themselves.)

  1. Unoccupied or vacant Property 

You will find that landlords insurance on unoccupied property is difficult to place. The emphasis is on risk management with the owner being required to regularly review the property and take measures (e.g. turning off water, boarding up letter boxes) to ensure that the risk of a claim is reduced. Even so, cover may be restricted to 'FLEA' - fire, lightning explosion, aircraft. There are several reasons why the property may be unoccupied:-

  • The property is to be sold e.g. the owner has died  and cover is required as their executors
  • The property is being renovated and the purchaser will move in once repairs are complete.
  • The owner of the property has just purchased it and not yet found a tenant
  • It is an investment property and will be sold at a profit in the near future.

We quote for unoccupied property online

Unoccupied at inception and between tenants

  • Property unoccupied at inception will very often have limited cover as above BUT if the property is occupied by a tenant and then becomes unoccupied between tenancies property insurance cover will not normally be restricted immediately. The exact length of time between lets depends on the policy.

Types of cover

  • Fire, lightning, explosion, earthquake
  • Storm, tempest flood
  • Riot, civil commotion
  • Theft, malicious damage (including damage by tenants)
  • Property Owner's liability
  • Escape of water or oil
  • Impact by vehicles or animals, aircraft or aerial devices from them
  • Storm damage to walls

Rebuilding Costs

Recent surveys suggest that property bought on  a buy to let basis in the UK is frequently underinsured - typically by up to 40%. Please ensure that an adequate rebuilding cost is chosen as if you insure for too low an amount it will affect the amount paid following a claim.

LANDLORDS INSURANCE INFORMATION

We offer landlords insurance from a range of insurance companies, who have been selected because they target different areas of the market - professional lets, subsidised lets, DSS referrals, student accommodation and vacant or unoccupied property. This means that you are almost certain to obtain a reasonable price from our free instant quote system..

Our landlords insurance quote engine is here

Once you have entered all the information - details of the property to be insured, type of tenant, postcode etc, you may click the  button and you will find up to ten schemes quoting. The prices are arranged in ascending order (cheapest at the top), and, to help you, we have provided some basic cover indication (click the 'cover' picture) and some helpful notes about each quotation.

With the insurance if you selected a professional let policy, a page will open offering some of the additional policies that you may find of interest - amongst these are a legal expenses policy, a rent guarantee policy and a home emergency policy - which provides the tenant with a 24 hour telephone number to ring so that they can get immediate help, rather than waking you out of bed! These policies are optional, but may save you a lot of grief if things go long. The page may be blocked due to your internet settings and there is a close window button at the bottom.

You may complete the landlord application form online - this does not mean that you are or will be on cover - it means that we will receive information about the risk and can check that the premium and terms are correct - please disclose all material facts on the form. This will save us time and will protect you if you need to make a claim as failure to disclose a material fact could result in the policy not protecting you. If you are in doubt or need advice then we recommend you call us so we can discuss matters further.

Once we verify the premium we will send you confirmation and also send to you in the post a proposal form, policy summary and key facts document, together with details of the information we have received. This will enable you to complete the form and return it to us together with your remittance (we can take debit card payments over the phone).

When we receive your proposal form we will check it and either arrange cover or advise you why we cannot. You can speed up this process by sending the proposal form by fax and by calling us during normal office hours. We give advice and make personal recommendations as to the best policy for you and it may be that the company we recommend is not the cheapest (this is usually because a specialist for one type of tenant appears by chance for a quotation for another type). If we do recommend another company we will advise you the reasons. You do not have to take our advice - but if you do not then the policy will not be regarded as an advised sale and it will be up to you to check that the policy meets your demands and needs.

Once the policy is set up we will send you the final schedule of cover as soon as we have it from the underwriters.

Please ring 0870 7456247 for any query you may have.

We offer more than just landlords insurance - why not have a look at our main page?