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Landlord Buildings Insurance

Do you need landlord buildings insurance,  and want a quote? Well our landlord insurance is suitable to cover UK residential property.. A full range of buildings insurance is available for the dwellinghouse no matter the type of tenant. Cover is available for non-standard risks - such as unusual construction, buildings in an area exposed to flood or subsidence - although such will have to be referred and confirmed with underwriters. Insurance is also available for owner occupier and unoccupied property.

Request a free quote for landlord buildings insurance

We offer a range of policies for landlord buildings insurance. We have decided that the best way forward is to discuss your requirements at length to ensure that the right information is obtained and the most suitable landlord buildings insurance policy offered. We recommend, therefore, that you request a call-back (select the right option from the 'Houses' option above) so we can help you.

What is landlord building insurance, your questions answered?

As an overview of Landlord building insurance, it covers UK residential property. It is a policy that is designed to cover the requirements of someone who owns a property and lets it out (or it may be unoccupied) so another person lives or works there.

What does landlord building insurance cover, is it only the building?

As well as the building, Landlord building insurance covers property owner's liability and, if needed the contents in the building. Amongst the cover is loss of rent or the cost of alternative accommodation if the property is uninhabitable following a claim. If the policy does not include legal expenses or rent guarantee then a separate policy can be obtained.

The specific perils on a landlord building insurance, (the events that are covered for loss or damage) vary from policy to policy and the landlord has several options to tailor the insurance such as increasing the excess, including accidental damage cover etc. Cheaper quotes may result in an insurance policy that has worse cover, higher excesses or more stringent security requirements.

Cheap quotes are available to cover:-

Further information about the above is available below:

The cost of landlord buildings insurance, it may not be as expensive as you think.

We offer cheap landlord building insurance, but with excellent cover. - use the quote-buttons above to request a call back to discuss your needs, or the link below,

Our landlords insurance policies are not availableonline. if you contact us, we can compare landlord insurance policies offered by a range of companies since occasionally better or cheaper insurance is available. Then we will send you full details of the policy we recommend.

When selecting landlord buildings insurance, a cheap policy is not always the best policy. There is more than just a cheap quote and we are sure that we can help you. No doubt you want a broker who can look after you if you have problems, who can help you in the administration of your insurance policy and whose staff are experienced as well as being friendly and helpful. You need look no further. As a high-street broker, our staff speak with customers both by telephone and face to face and, being a relatively small, family run business, we place great store on valuing and looking after our clients.

We are, of course, for insurance, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registration number is 300694, if you want to examine our credentials) as are all the insurers with whom we place business. All these companies are based in the UK: we do not deal with companies based abroad (which may help your confidence) only with UK insurance companies and Lloyds. We are also agents of  'Underwriting Agencies'. This means that they have arranged specialist policies and market them to retail brokers.

The cover provided under each insurance policy will vary from company to company. When you obtain a quote (sorted for cheapness) for your house there will be a link to the appropriate key facts document so you can ascertain and compare the benefits provided by the policy and, of course, if you have any problems or need clarification then we are only too willing to offer our services.

When asking for insurance you should be sure what benefits you need. A standard policy will cover just the buildings and for the normal perils, fire, lightning, explosion, storm and tempest, flood, escape of water. It will also cover your property owner's liability. You can however ask for more benefits - such as accidental damage to the buildings, include cover for contents cover, malicious damage by tenant, perhaps legal expenses, rent guarantee. A summary is below:

If you have several buildings to be insured then you may want a special form of landlords insurance known as multi property landlord insurance. Large discounts are available if you insure more than four homes on one policy as we can look at an overall claims experience rather than just apply a single rate for each individual building to be insured.

How we rate landlord buildings insurance, a guide to underwriting factors.

Without doubt the key factor for landlords buildings insurance is the amount for which the buildings should be insured. Do not, to get a cheap quote, reduce the sum insured. The building should be insured for the total cost of reinstatement as new. The sum insured should also include an amount for removal of debris as well as architects fees. Please note that the recommended sum should be obtained from architects or building surveyors since it will differ markedly from the actual price paid for the building.

The cost of landlords insurance in the UK? The price for landlord buildings insurance depends on several key rating factors:

  1.  The sum insured (most policies, unlike residential house insurance, are still on a sum insured basis rather than on a bedroom basis)

  2. The Location (Obviously damage due to theft is of importance but if the property is found on a flood plain, in an area prone to subsidence or exposed to high winds, then the premium will be more expensive) and

  3. The type of tenant (property occupied by professional people have a lower moral hazard compared to those where the tenant is unemployed or put in by the Local Authority or Housing Association.

There are other factors for buildings insurance such as the age and type of property, but these are minor. A rate of about £1.00 per thousand would be regarded as competitive for professional tenants, but it could be three times that for property occupied by DSS referrals or asylum seekers.

Contents insurance for landlords

As well as buildings insurance, you may also be wanting landlords contents insurance to protect your goods in the home. You should note that this will not cover the tenant's contents. It just protects the furnishings you provide. Unless the property happens to be a flat e.g. the flat may be insured as part of the whole block under a block policy, we cannot cover contents on their own. Since we are brokers, we have access to specialist policies that supply a standard amount of cover under the policy whilst others allow you to include a suitable amount.

If you are in doubt, for insurance purposes, what are 'buildings' and what are 'contents' a useful rule of thumb is to assume that anything that you may wish to remove from the property should you leave would be 'contents' and that which would be left should be regarded as 'buildings'.

Please note that there will be a largest sum insured available on most policies and that, again unlike home insurance, valuables and expensive articles may be excluded. This is because most insurers expect that a landlord will only be providing basic (but sound) furnishings in the home.

Insurance for landlords of HMOs - Homes of multiple occupation

Although not needed for buildings insurance, a landlord may need to have a property licence. You may be aware that a property licence is needed for landlords owning properties where more than two householders live together. You can read about the new property licence laws online. The legislation brought into effect by the government from April 6th 2006 meant that any landlord which lets a property which is considered a house in multiple occupation now needs to have a property licence under certain circumstances. A household is generally considered as members of the same family which live together or married couples. A house of multiple occupations is generally any property which houses three or more 'households' which share facilities such as the kitchen, toilet or bathroom.

A note about the excess on a landlord buildings insurance policy

The excess on the landlord buildings insurance is the amount to be paid in the event of a claim. The actual amount often depends on the type of tenant. A property let to a professional person, couple or family, will have a lower excess than one occupied by asylum seekers. When you compare your quotes online, information will be provided about the excess under each policy. This amount can be increased by taking a voluntary excess in addition to the compulsory excess to make the policy cheaper. A final note. There will be an excess for subsidence claims - this amount will usually be £1000 but higher amounts may apply in areas where the subsidence risk is higher. Our policy also has a £350.00 excess for the escape of water.

Insurance by county in England

We can offer insurance in the following counties: Avon, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Borders, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Central, Cheshire, Cleveland, Clwyd, Cornwall, County Antrim, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Dumfries and Galloway, Durham, Dyfed, East Sussex, Essex, Fife, Gloucestershire, Grampian, Greater Manchester, Gwent, Gwynedd County, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Highlands and Islands, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Lothian, Merseyside, Mid Glamorgan, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Powys, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, South Glamorgan, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Strathclyde, Suffolk, Surrey, Tayside, Tyne and Wear, Warwickshire, West Glamorgan, West Midlands, West Sussex, West Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire

Cover in Northern Ireland is not available online - but is if you call us: Our direct line for landlords insurance is: 01388 607140

Insurance in the cities

Insurance is available in any of the UK cities. These are: London, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, Bradford, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Wakefield, Cardiff, Coventry, Nottingham, Leicester, Sunderland, Belfast, Newcastle upon Tyne, Brighton, Hull, Plymouth, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Derby, Swansea, Southampton, Salford, Aberdeen, Westminster, Portsmouth, York, Peterborough, Dundee, Lancaster, Oxford, Newport, Preston, St Albans, Norwich, Chester, Cambridge, Salisbury, Exeter, Gloucester, Lisburn, Chichester, Winchester, Londonderry, Carlisle, Worcester, Bath, Durham, Lincoln, Hereford, Armagh, Inverness, Stirling, Canterbury, Lichfield, Newry, Ripon, Bangor, Truro, Ely, Wells, St Davids. Other towns, villages and hamlets can also be covered.

If you need advice on any insurance matter contact us on our direct line: 01388 607105 and we can discuss the cover that your require, use the link above (or below) to obtain a premium indication.

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TYPES OF TENANTS

The type of tenants affects the price of Landlord Buildings Insurance, some are cheaper to insure than others - and others uninsurable: the premium depends on the type of tenant and the tenancy agreement. As brokers, we understand the different classifications and offer cover for the following: -

  1. Professional. Defined as property where the agreement is long term between the tenant and the property owner and the rent is paid in full by the tenant to the owner.
  2. Insurance for households on subsidised let: A subsidised let is one where the agreement is between the landlord and tenant for at least 6 months but part of the rent is paid by a third party - Usually the DSS. This is different from
  3. Insurance for DSS: This is one where the agreement is between the landlord and the DSS/ housing association and the DSS/ housing association decide the tenant.
  4. Insurance for Asylum Seekers: Asylum seekers cannot take out tenancy of property so this agreement is between the DSS or an approved organisation and the landlord. Note: - we cannot cover property where the organisation isn't approved by us - which will exclude charities.
  5. Insurance for Students: This is one where the property is occupied by one or more students (usually more than one!) with shared facilities. Premiums can be high as by these properties are unoccupied during the vacation.
  6. Unoccupied/ Vacant buildings insurance: (Contents cover may be available). Very cheap rates for unoccupied / vacant properties. Varying levels of cover. The premiums depend on why the habituation is vacant. e.g. pending sale, waiting to move in, renovation, being refurbished before letting out.
  7. Insurance for Semi Commercial property. For residential property that is above a shop - please contact us.
  8. Non standard - e.g. property that has undergone subsidence. or in an area exposed to flooding

Multi Property Landlord Buildings Insurance

For landlords owning five or more buildings we offer our Multi Property landlord insurance contract with reduced rates, fees and easy administration.

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Call our Direct Line on 01388 607105 if you need help about your landlord building insurance
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Fun fact: To spot the difference between a Dromedary and a Bactrian Camel, remember that 'D' has one bulge and 'B' has two.