Landlord Insurance: Buildings & Contents Cover

If you have purchased the property with a mortgage your lender will usually have a surveyor carry out a valuation, and this should indicate a rebuilding sum insured. If you do not have a mortgage valuation you can seek guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors by visiting www.bcis.co.uk, however the only way to obtain an accurate rebuilding valuation is to enlist the services of a qualified surveyor. This may cost a little more now but could save you money if you overestimate your sum insured or save you a considerable sum if you under insure.

Yes, but accidental damage cover would not be included under the contents section.

Our policies do provide full cover for a period of either 30 or 90 days depending on the cover that you purchase and subject to you taking certain precautions. Please refer to the summary of cover or call us for more information.

If you are under insured then your insurers are only liable to pay a proportion of your claim. For example if your sum insured only covers 50% of your rebuilding cost, then your insurers are only liable for paying 50% of the amount that you claim. This applies to your contents and loss of rent as well as your buildings cover.

Insurance is usually offered from exchange, but you should be guided by your solicitor on the exact date to start your policy.

No, you already own the land so the rebuilding figure is the cost of rebuilding your property if it was completely destroyed and should also include debris removal and architect and surveyors costs.

Landlord fixtures and fittings, including communal television and radio receiving aerials, satellite dishes and communication equipment, fixed glass, fixed sanitary ware and other related fittings in or pertaining to the buildings, are included as part of the building insurance cover. Just make sure this is included within your sum insured.

As a leaseholder, the freeholder’s insurance may not extend to cover the fixtures and fittings within your flat or if it does, the replacement may not be on a like for like basis so it is worth checking the terms of your lease. This can be included on your policy where required.

As the owner of a leasehold property you are not usually required to insure the buildings however you are still legally liable for the welfare of your tenant, so should the tenant suffer an injury within your flat you could find yourself on the receiving end of a claim. We recommend that every landlord buy cover for property owners liability at the very least as this will protect you personally should a tenant claim against you. Whilst you do not need any other cover you should also consider insuring your contents, loss of rental income and any improvements that you have carried out at the property such as fitted kitchens, bathrooms, double glazing etc. These items may not be covered by your freeholder, or if they are the replacement may not be on a like for like basis so it is worth checking the terms of your lease. We can cover these items under the fixtures and fittings section of our policy.

An interested party is any other person or organisation with a financial interest in the property, such as a mortgage provider.

The Housing Act 2004 defines an HMO as one of the following (part 7 section 254): A building with one or more units of accommodation which are not self-contained flats, occupied by people who are not in one household who pay rent, occupy the property as their main or only residence, are the only people to use that accommodation and share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. If the building contains a mixture of self-contained flats and non-self-contained accommodation the building will still be considered an HMO owing to the presence of non-self-contained accommodation where people are sharing facilities. A converted building with at least one unit of accommodation which is not self-contained, occupied by people from more than one household who pay rent and occupy it as their main or only residence. As with the first definition, such a building may have self-contained flats in it as well but the presence of non-self-contained accommodation will mean that the building is an HMO. (Unlike the first definition, the occupants of the non-self-contained accommodation do not have to be sharing kitchen and bathroom facilities for the building to be an HMO.) A self-contained flat may also be an HMO if it is occupied by people who are more than two households who pay rent, occupy the flat as their main or only residence, are the only people to use that accommodation and share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. A building converted into self-contained flats, less than two-thirds of which are owner-occupied, will be an HMO if the building work did not comply with building regulations.

“Commercial purposes” is defined as any type of business being operated from the insured property. As our Landlords Insurance policy is designed to cover premises used solely for residential purposes it is not suitable if your tenant or their guests run any type of business from home. If your tenant operates a business from the insured premises a commercial property owner’s policy would better suit your needs. For further information on this type of policy please call us to discuss your requirements.

The policy provides you with a 14 day cooling off period in which to decide whether you wish to continue. Further information can be found in our policy wording.

An inventory is one of the most important documents that a landlord will need when letting a property to a tenant. Contained within an inventory will be the condition of the property and any fixtures and fittings at the time that the tenant is handed the keys to the property.

An inventory should be as detailed and thorough as possible. The more detailed your inventory is the less likely there will be any disputes at the end of the tenancy.

The inventory document will have a very important factor when determining outcome of a dispute between a landlord and a tenant and should not be taken lightly… Regular checks of the property as part of the inventory are recommended and also a final check out inventory. For an example guide of an inventory completed by the inventory company No Letting Go click here.

It is recommended that a boiler is serviced at least once a year.

It would not be advisable to rely on tenants to inform you of any possible structural problems to the roof and insure that the roof is inspected at least once a year. If possible this should be done twice a year.

It is a legal requirement for the landlord to provide their tenant with a gas safety certificate and to have all gas appliances serviced and given an annual safety inspection.

A tenant is responsible for repair to electrical appliances that have not been installed by the landlord. All items installed by the landlord will be the responsibility of the landlord and this also includes socket outlets and switches.

A void period is the period where the property is vacant in between lets.

You can help to reduce void periods by maintaining good relationships with your tenants so that they do not wish to move. If your tenants do wish to leave the property it is important that you advertise your property with a letting agent or on a property portal to ensure you get a new tenant as soon as possible.

Our Premier Insurance policy provides up to 90 days full cover between tenancies (subject to policy terms and conditions). This should be plenty of time for you to find new tenants and re-let your property.

You do not have to inform HMRC when you become a landlord, although you should be aware of your tax liabilities for more information we recommend you go to: www.hmrc.gov.uk.

It is always advisable to notify your mortgage lender if you are considering letting your property as there may be implications you will need to consider.

There are various types of insurance that you should consider as a landlord. This includes landlord’s buildings and contents insurance to protect the structure of your property, fixtures and fittings and your contents. There is also rent guarantee and legal expenses insurance to protect you against rental arrears. Another type of insurance you should consider is landlord emergency cover, which will provide assistance in the event of a domestic emergency at your property.

Yes. We will need to receive authorisation from you confirming that you are happy for them to deal with the claim on your behalf and their full contact details. The easiest way for us to receive this is via post or email to claims@hamiltonfraser.co.uk.

Your excess will be specific to your policy and can be found on the policy schedule.

We can look to set up a claim for you. We require the exact date the storm occurred in order to validate the claim. You will need to take steps to prevent any further loss and we are happy for emergency repairs to be completed. Once we have verified the conditions, we will then require photographs of the damage and 2 estimates for the full repairs to be completed.

We can do this either way depending on your preference. However, if we pay the contractor then we will deduct the policy excess and you will need to pay the shortfall.

We have the facility to make payment by cheque or BACS. Please specify which method you would prefer and supply your bank details if it is BACS.

In the event an emergency we would recommend taking the appropriate action to prevent the loss from getting worse and t We have an out of hours contact centre that can take the details and these are passed to our claims team on a Monday morning.

Loss adjusters are independent claims specialists who assist in the fair and just settlement of claims, including complex or contentious claims, on behalf of insurance companies. They help policyholders restore their property to full working order.

You will need to contact your local police to report the crime and obtain a crime reference number. If you need to board the property for security reasons you can proceed to do this. We will then need photographs and 2 estimates for the repairs to the building and original purchase receipts that you may be looking to claim for under contents.

No. The loss of rent cover only applies when an insured peril having occurred at the property has made the property inhabitable and there was a valid tenancy agreement already in place.

In order to have this cover you need to provide an ERN number of the employees you have working at the property. Most main contractors like telephone engineers, plumbers will have their own insurance in place.

At Hamilton Fraser we have our own in house claims team, so you can call us on 0345 310 6370 and we will take full details and explain what you need to do next.

If the claim is for material damage then you will need to supply photographs of the damaged areas and 2 estimates for any repair work or items that you are looking to replace

No. We will take the details from you over the telephone. Please call us on 0345 310 6370.

In the first instance, you will need to get a contractor in to locate and repair the leak. This is not covered by the policy but we will require a copy of the invoice to confirm it is fixed. For any areas that have been affected by water damage, you will need to supply photographs and 2 estimates for the repairs.

You can visit www.bcis.co.uk and this site can help you calculate the rebuilding value alternatively if you have an up to date survey of the property or recent mortgage on the property you should find the figure there. The rebuilding value is NOT the market/selling value.

This only covers items specifically provided for the use of the tenant and which you as the landlord are legally liable for and excludes certain items it also excludes the tenants personal items which can be covered under a separate tenants contents policy contact us on info@totallandlordinsurance.co.uk for further information.

If you are covering the building this is included in the rebuilding value however if you require cover for a flat you may need fixtures and fittings insurance these are things like a new bathroom suit, kitchen suit and improvements made by the leaseholder and not covered under the main buildings insurance policy.

Unlike motor insurance most property insurance do not offer a no claims discount and are calculated on the rebuilding value, area and some other factors, instead prices generally are maintained and would not significantly jump unless there are claims.

There are various policies offering a range of general excesses Total Landlord insurance offer a standard excess of £250 increasing to £1,000 for subsidence and malicious damage claims however they do offer a general excess of £500, £1,000 which does offer a cheaper quotation.

On all policies there should be a page with definitions that helps you understand some terminology used in the policy wording. You can visit our website and request us to contact you if you would like any assistance.

Depending on your circumstances you can cover numerous things from the building, fixtures and fittings, landlords contents left at the let property for tenants use, loss of rent, property owners liability to name a few.

Just the same as a mortgage you need to get the correct type of insurance for let properties. A standard home policy would not protect your legal liability against injury to your tenant also the Total Landlord Insurance Premier Policy includes malicious damage and theft by tenants which would not be covered under a standard home policy.

An insurance policy that covers a landlord from financial losses connected with their rental properties.