It is always important to look for the right insurance for your property and its contents. It is essential for landlords to know what kind of house they have, the types of tenants as well as the properties’ surrounding areas. This information is necessary when approaching the insurance companies.

There is always a false belief that standard home insurance is suitable to cover your rented properties; however, not only will you waste money on the wrong insurance, your claim might also be declined if accident happens. Thus, it is crucial to look for the specialist landlord insurance to cover the buy-to-let investment.

Apart from normal buildings and contents insurance cover, there are other major aspects you may want to consider when purchasing landlord insurance:

1. Accidental Damage Cover
Accidental Damage on both buildings and contents is usually an additional cover; however it might also come as a standard. Accidental Damage is an unintentional and unexpected action that harms your property or contents. Some insurance providers offer this cover for free depending on the type of tenants renting the properties; however, it should be noted that some companies may offer this at an additional cost.

2. Alternative Accommodation Cover
Alternative accommodation cover is needed when the property becomes uninhabitable. Landlords are required to re-house the tenants temporarily due to loss or damage. Alternative accommodation is often quite pricey; thus, as a landlord, it is important to look for an insurance that provides this cover to help you to “redeem” the cost for re-housing your tenants when your property becomes uninhabitable.

3. Loss of rent cover
When your property is damaged, the time it takes to repair and the unoccupancy of the property under construction will result in Loss of Rent. Having Loss of Rent covered in the policies, your loss of rental income can be compensated. Some companies will also provide a maximum cover with 20% of the property rebuild value due to the damage.

Not only can the rented property be covered by the standard residential or commercial landlord insurance, landlords can also be insured with the legal expenses and rent guarantee insurance, which serves to cover the legal costs and rent-arrears when the tenants break their commitments under the tenancy agreement; therefore, this type of insurance is crucial especially under the economic recession.

Finding an appropriate Buy-to-let insurance that suits the landlord, property and the tenants is essential as the insurance should be able to cover most of your needs and concerns. Landlords should never neglect to get insurance once the rented property is bought. It serves to put you in a secure position regardless of the economic situation.  kath wong