Landlord insurance

If you’re a landlord, it’s sensible to have landlord property insurance in place. Normal home insurance will usually cover the basics like buildings and contents cover, but dedicated landlord insurance in the UK will take your cover a step further. Including cover for additional risks involved with renting a property (like accidental or malicious damage by tenants, or landlord insurance for an empty property).

Your mortgage provider will usually require you to have landlord buildings insurance in place, and simple home insurance likely won’t cover rental activities, so securing the right landlord cover is important.

Who needs landlord insurance?

Residential and commercial landlords need this cover if they wish to protect themselves against the risks that come with renting out properties. Although not a legal requirement, many mortgage providers will require landlords to have buildings insurance in place.

It is the responsibility of the landlord to have buildings insurance in place. It’s not a legal requirement, but if you have an outstanding mortgage, it may be a condition of your mortgage provider.

What happens if my property is damaged and I don’t have buildings insurance?

As a landlord, you are responsible for repairing any damage to your properties – whether you have buildings insurance or not. You’re responsible for the structure and exterior of the building along with areas like plumbing, sinks, baths and toilets, electrical work, water and central heating, water and gas pipes and more.

Endsleigh can provide cover tailored to you, so you can get building and landlord insurance on one policy.

Although not a legal requirement, if you have a mortgage, your provider will likely require you to have buildings insurance in place as part of your agreement. If you don’t have a mortgage, landlord cover is still a sensible option if you want cover against risks associated with renting out your property.

From landlord building and contents insurance, to different liability covers, Endsleigh has a lot to offer. Our residential landlord insurance will provide cover for the below. Find out more about Endsleigh’s commercial landlord insurance here.

• The cost for repairing or rebuilding your property, including garages, outbuildings, walls, gates, fences and patios, up to £1,000,000
• Property owners’ liability up to £5,000,000 for bodily injury to any person by accident
• Accidental damage to property
• Employer’s liability up to £5,000,000
• Malicious damage by the tenant or their guests up to £25,000
• Up to 30% of the sum insured for loss of rent and up to £3,000 for alternative accommodation
• Up to £7,500 trace and access cover
• You can also choose to add useful covers to your policy, such as home emergency or landlord legal cover.
• Please read your policy documents for full details.

Am I covered if my tenant causes damage in the property?

Yes - Endsleigh’s residential landlord policy provides protection for malicious damage by tenants (and their guests) as standard up to £25,000. Find out more about Endsleigh’s commercial landlord insurance here.

Can I include contents cover?

If you’re letting your property furnished, you may require landlord contents cover to protect any items you own in the property. You can easily add this cover onto your landlord buildings insurance with Endsleigh.

Endsleigh’s landlord contents insurance can protect your items - such as your carpets, curtains, furniture, household utensils, kitchen electrical goods and soft furnishings - against a number of different risks. For example, if items are damaged in a flood, fire or are stolen.

A single article limit of £2,500 applies and you cannot insure personal items or valuables or any items belonging to your tenants. So if you have any particularly expensive items (such as fine art or jewellery) you may need to investigate covering these separately.

In the event of a claim, your contents will be replaced with a deduction made for wear and tear. This includes temporary removal cover and occupiers’ liability up to £2 million. Plus, we automatically provide protection for garden contents up to £500 and for gardening equipment up to £1,000.

Simply opt for landlord building and contents insurance when you’re researching the best policy for you.

What’s not covered?

We are unable to provide the following covers under our residential policy:

• Wear and tear or costs for maintenance
• Storm damage to gates, fences and hedges
• Pet damage (although we can provide cover for this with our lets with pets landlord insurance)
• Your tenants’ belongings
• Your excess, as stated on your policy documents
• Please read your policy documents for full details.

Find out more about Endsleigh’s commercial landlord insurance here.

While buying rental properties can be a great investment, those who are new to being a landlord don’t always realise that they may need landlord property insurance to protect the properties they rent out. This is often also a requirement for their mortgage providers. Luckily, there are many insurance options available to landlords to protect their let properties, and their income.

The type of landlord cover you need for your rental properties will depend on a number of factors, including:

• What type of property are you renting? For example, is it a single residential property, or a block of flats?
• How many properties do you own? If you’re insuring multiple let properties, portfolio insurance may prove cost-effective – you can find out more about multi-property insurance below.
• Who are your tenants? If you’re renting to students you may want to consider specialist student landlord insurance.
• Will the property be unoccupied? If it will be unoccupied long term, you may want to consider unoccupied property insurance.
• Is it a permanent or temporary let? Is there an assured tenancy agreement in place, or are you renting it out as a holiday home? As part on Howden, our holiday home insurance will provide essential buildings insurance protection for your holiday or second home, including properties let through agencies such as Airbnb.
• Is it being let furnished or unfurnished? This will tell you whether you need contents insurance as well as cover for the buildings.

What types of property do Endsleigh cover?

At Endsleigh, we pride ourselves on the competitive and flexible nature of our policies.

So, whether you’re looking for the best building insurance for landlords, or specifically want to cover contents, we can help with trying to find the most competitive cover! We can cover:

Multiple properties or mixed portfolio

Do you have multiple residential or commercial properties, a mixed portfolio of both, or a single property which is let to both residential and commercial tenants (such as flats above a shop)? If so, it could pay to insure them under one policy.

Residential properties 

A residential rental property is normally a house, flat or maisonette rented out to a tenant under a tenancy agreement. These types of properties could be let to students, non-students, families, professionals and so on.

Commercial properties

Commercial rental properties are let to commercial tenants for business purposes. Commercial premises are used by many different types of businesses and vary in size from shops and restaurants to leisure centres and factories.

What is commercial property insurance?

Non-standard properties

Non-standard rental properties are specialist rentals such as holiday homes, buildings of a non-standard construction or unoccupied properties. Rental properties that are affected by subsidence or liable to flooding are also likely to require specialist insurance cover.

As part of Howden, we can provide:

Flooded home insurance

Holiday home insurance

Renovation home insurance

Subsidence home insurance

Barn conversion insurance

Flat roof home insurance

Listed and period property insurance

Blocks of flats

If as a landlord or management company you own all of the flats or apartments within a single block or complex, you may wish to insure them on a single policy. You can get buildings insurance for flats plus other elements of cover - this will ease the burden of admin and could mean you get better value for money.

There are a lot of up-front costs to take care of when you become a landlord, which could include anything from letting and managing agent fees to the price of property maintenance, Not to mention your mortgage (if you have one)! So, you’ll likely to want to save money wherever possible – including on your cost of insurance.

To help you out, we’ve pulled together five simple tips that could help reduce the price of your cover when getting quotes from landlord insurance companies in the UK:

1. Increase your excess

Opting for a higher buildings or contents excess could ultimately reduce the price of your cover – you’ll just need to make sure the excess is set at an amount you’re comfortable paying in the event of a claim.

2. Make sure your rebuild is accurate

It can be easy to over-insure, but unfortunately this can increase the price of your insurance. This is why it’s important to get the rebuild right for your properties. You can find out more about calculating your rebuild here.

3. Consider whether you need portfolio insurance

If you’re renting out multiple properties, you could get a cheaper deal by taking out multi-property insurance – not only that, but it’ll save a lot of time on the paperwork!

4. Avoid unnecessary cover

Think carefully about the protection you actually need for your property. For example, if the property is being let unfurnished you may not require cover for contents.

5. Decide whether to pay monthly or annually

While paying monthly is a great way to spread the cost of your insurance, you may pay slightly more to do so – so it’s worth considering whether you would prefer to pay annually to cut down your cover cost.

Is there a difference between landlord insurance and homeowners' insurance?

Yes, there is. The principles are similar in relation to  providing protection against risks associated with damage to a building/its contents. However, there are some key differences that are centred around the fact that landlords receive an income through their rental property, and have a responsibility to their tenants.

Home insurance would unlikely cover you if your property was let out to tenants. Landlord insurance provides some crucial additional protection like:

• Protection against loss of rent
• Property owners’ liability
• Alternative accommodation
• Protection for landlord’s contents

It’s a sensible idea to get covered as soon as possible once you’re responsible for a rental property – to make sure you’re always covered against the key risks associated with renting to tenants.

If you have a mortgage, your mortgage provider may require you to have buildings insurance in place from the start of your agreement. In this case, buildings insurance is included with landlord cover, so the sooner you get your cover in place, the better.

A building valuation will provide an accurate reinstatement cost for your property giving you the information you need to request the right amount of cover from your broker.

BCH is a RICS-regulated company that provides building insurance rebuilding cost valuations via desk-based e-valuations or site-based reinstatement cost assessments (RCA).

Find out more about building insurance valuation services today.