Buy-to-let landlords warned over home insurance

Tuesday, 15 April 2008 07:23

Buy-to-let property investors have been warned they could be leaving themselves open to substantial liability if they are inadequately insured.

If an investor chooses standard household insurance rather than policies designed specifically for landlords, the specialist buy-to-let lender has warned they face serious shortfalls.

Most standard household policies are designed for owner-occupiers and can present some serious problems for landlords and buy-to-let investors.

According to Paragon, inadequacies include:

• Unoccupancy: Ordinary household policies typically exclude burst pipes and theft cover if the property is unoccupied for more than 30 days. Longer periods of unoccupancy are comparatively rare in the case of homeowners, but for landlords carrying out refurbishment work, for example, or who may experience a void period, this time limit is far too restrictive.

• Malicious Damage: While a specialist landlord policy should cover malicious damage by a tenant, most standard household policies carry a specific exclusion. And if the property is badly damaged, standard insurance policies will cover the cost of alternative accommodation but will not necessarily cover the loss of rental income.

• Legal Bills: Landlords could face a large legal bill if a tradesperson carrying out work to their property is damaged. Homeowners can be held liable in these circumstances, and once again personal legal liability will be covered by their policy. But this important protection will typically exclude any liabilities arising in connection with the policyholder's trade or profession - not much use if you are a professional landlord. A specialist let property insurance policy should always provide public liability and 'employers liability' in case the tradesperson happens to be employed by the landlord.

"Landlords need to carefully consider their insurance needs and ensure they are properly protected," said Tony Armitage, Paragon Insurance director.

"The biggest irony is that some landlords are actually paying through the nose for potentially unsuitable cover."

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