Brignall Archer

To keep the roof over your head, even after sustaining a disaster, buildings insurance is a necessity.  When you own a home, as a landlord or as a resident, it is mandatory that you purchase at least a basic building insurance package.  This type of coverage protects the structure, permanent fixtures and fittings within your home, ceilings and floors, walls, doors and windows, bathroom fixtures, and sometimes surrounding sheds, garages, swimming pools, and fences.

Under building insurance, you will be protected against disasters such as fire, lightning, storm damage, falling trees, explosions, plumbing damage, earthquakes, subsidence, vehicular accidents, or vandalism and burglary.  When such disasters occur, the household insurance provider will pay for your home to be repaired, rebuilt, or replaced, depending on the level of damage suffered.

To get the most accurate amount of coverage, you should consult an agency such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for a professional estimate of the sum insured.  Chartered surveyors can more easily perform these calculations after surveying your home and property.  The sum insured is based not on the market value of your home, but on the actual cost of rebuilding your home from the ground up.

For unique or historic homes, extra coverage might be needed to rebuild that style of home, so purchase a home insurance policy that matches your needs.  To obtain a better estimate of your home’s rebuild cost, visit the Association of British Insurers’ website for more information.

Landlords are responsible for insuring the building that you are living in, both from structural damage and weather damage. However, if you are renting a property and are looking for the peace of mind possible in knowing that your possessions are completely covered, then you must make your own arrangements for contents insurance. 

Some insurers have a specific ‘tenants insurance’ that you can arrange.  You may also be able to cover your liability if you personally cause any damage to the property that you are living in.  As with all house insurance policies, the details will vary for each insurance company. You will need to check your policy documents carefully to determine the actual level of cover you have. 

As you are a tenant, there may be occasions when either tradesmen or your landlord need to gain entry to the house or flat when you are absent (in the event of a water leak, for example). If you have valuable items then you should take care to lock them away just for added peace of mind as if they are stolen or damaged then it may be more difficult to claim on the grounds that they were easily accessible.

As with other house insurance policies, tenant’s contents insurance can be arranged so that your valuable items can be listed and covered individually and you will be charged an excess in the event of a claim.  You will also find that your quote varies depending on the area you are living in and the measures taken to prevent loss and damage.  The more preventative measures both you and your landlord take; the better your chances of obtaining a cheaper policy.

Home insurance is vital for anyone who owns a property, but when an entire property portfolio is held it is even more important. Property tycoons, whether developing existing residences or renting homes out to tenants, need to ensure that they are financially protected should the worst occur, and when more than one property is held it becomes even more important to have adequate buildings insurance cover.

Whilst all homeowners should have building insurance to protect the structure of their home, for people who have a host of properties for development or rental purposes, the need is even greater. The likelihood of something going wrong increases the more properties that are held and, whilst unlikely, there is the possibility that damage could affect more than one home at any time, sending financial costs soaring. It is therefore imperative that all those who hold a property portfolio invest in adequate insurance to cover building damage at a minimum.

For landlords, only building insurance may be required. In the majority of cases tenants will be expected to take out their own contents insurance, and whilst landlords may seek cheap house insurance quotes to cover furniture, having insurance to financially protect the property structure is normally all that is needed. Developers on the other hand may need to find home insurance quotes for both buildings and contents. Upgrading a property may result in significant finances being put into both structural changes, and the furnishings. In addition, expensive equipment may be left on site which could be subject to damage and theft.

It is therefore extremely important for any owner of more than one property to ensure that they have adequate house insurance for all residences. With financial costs able to rise significantly higher than normal, having household insurance is paramount.

Most people understand that if you have a mortgage you must have, at a minimum, buildings insurance to cover the structure of your property. But what many don’t realise is that there are also types of specialist building insurance that cover non-typical scenarios. Below are some of the primary ones.

Self-Build Insurance

Self-build insurance covers a structure and its owners during the building process when the owner is building their own home. Self-build insurance covers a wide-variety of situations that might occur, including:
•    Liability as an, ‘employer,’ which applies if a friend or volunteer is injured and decides to make a claim. This policy protects you from any liability as an employer.
•    Further liability, which extends cover to protect against claims by a third-party who is injured.
•    Public liability ensures you are protected against claims from members of the public or passers by who might be injured in some way.
•    Existing structure cover ensures that the lender’s interests are noted.
•    Cover in the event of contractor and/or supplier disputes. This includes any sub-standard work or materials.

Holiday or Expat Home

Anyone who spends a great amount of time away from their home can fall victim to their standard buildings insurance policy being voided. Specialist building insurance provides that much-needed cover.

Work from Home

This is useful when your buildings insurance does not cover home office equipment; some policies automatically cover up to £5,000, others do not.

Student Circumstance

These specialist policies take into account the insecure nature of rental contracts for student accommodation.

If you have a property that has been left unoccupied for a long period of time then you may be able to claim house insurance. If you are a landlord and your property has been left unoccupied due to not receiving tenants or a tenant has just moved out then you may be able to claim buildings and contents insurance for your vacant property. You can also claim house insurance if you are planning to sell a property that you were previously renting out.

Obtaining a quote will give you idea of what will be covered for your unoccupied property. There are many websites that allow you to compare unoccupied property insurance companies. If you are planning to have a house renovated in order to make it suitable for tenants to rent, then you may need to provide details of what repairs need to be done before obtaining a quote.

As some standard insurance policies do not offer cover for unoccupied properties, it can be difficult claiming this type of insurance, but shopping around will allow you to find a company that offers everything you need to ensure that your unoccupied property is protected. Many companies fail to provide insurance for unoccupied properties due to the fact that there is a greater risk of the property being vandalised, but you may be able to find a specialist insurance company that offers a policy which will provide cover for your home and contents.

Many owners that rent out flats experience problems with squatters, which often causes problems with claiming house insurance. However, removal of squatters will allow flat owners to claim specialist house insurance for any flats that are unoccupied.

Landlords

Anyone who lets or sub-lets a home or flat is required, at a minimum, to have home buildings insurance. In addition, depending on the level of furnishings included with the property, home contents insurance will also be necessary.

There are also other types of home insurance landlords may want to consider to protect themselves from serious out of pocket expenses should certain situations arise; for example non-payment of rent, emergency repairs or having to take legal action during an eviction, etc. These include:

Rent Guarantee – No matter how hard you try to pick the right tenant, there will be those who do not pay their rent. Rent guarantee insurance sees to it you get paid when you are having issues with your tenant and for up to three months after resolution while you find a new tenant.

Legal Fees – Legal fees insurance covers, as the name implies, legal fees when dealing with non-payment of rent, failure to vacate, unauthorised inhabitants and other tenant related issues.

Emergency Assistance – Covers the cost of contractor call-out and any works required, to a maximum limit. This is emergency cover and will not cover any problems relating to poor maintenance.

Tenants

While tenants do not require home buildings insurance, that is provided by landlord, they should consider home contents insurance to protect possessions and any household items they’ve provided; for example in unfurnished accommodation. The types of content insurance and level of coverage vary, replacement as new (new for old), indemnity (cost of repair) etc., so it is a good idea to comparison-shop before committing to a policy.