Do I need landlord insurance and building insurance? Although this is something that is often asked, landlord insurance should include building insurance as part of the cover and so you should not need both. So the question ‘do I need landlord insurance and building insurance?’ doesn’t need to come up.
At Emerald Life we offer building insurance as part of landlord insurance as standard, so you don’t need to worry about getting both. Get a quote now using our fast online form or call if you need help.
Landlord insurance is a form of building insurance that takes into account the fact you are letting the property and not living there. As such insurers use that information to inform their pricing and so you should be covered in the event of a valid claim.
However, if you just had standard buildings insurance on a let property then an insurer may refuse a claim if the property is let. Standard buildings insurance is meant for a home that is occupied by you and your family. If you choose to buy the wrong type of policy because it’s cheaper to do so, then you run a risk that an entire claim is declined.
If you don’t live there then as soon as you start accepting rent payments – even from family – you need landlord buildings insurance and not standard buildings insurance.
But again, landlord building insurance replaces standard building insurance and so you do not need both. “Do I need landlord insurance and building insurance?” – that’s the answer, but there’s more
Other Benefits
Having been asking “do I need landlord insurance and building insurance?” you must be relieved at the time and financial savings of only needing one. But that’s not all – landlord insurance is not actually that much more expensive than standard home insurance.
We also provide cover for all sorts of properties and tenants – including students and DSS, HMOs and blocks of flats.
Then there are other benefits of landlord insurance that go beyond just buildings insurance. While you may need buildings insurance for a buy-to-let mortgage to protect the interest of your lender in the property, you should also consider contents cover and liability cover.
Landlord contents cover is there to protect your own items in the property – such as appliances and furniture. At Emerald Life we provide £5000 of landlord contents insurance free but many landlords take a higher level of cover as they may have more contents in there. Note that landlord insurance does not usually include cover for valuables, but if you do have a high-end rental then call Emerald – because of our personalised approach, while you will not be able to buy that cover online, we may be able to help after a call. We may need some additional endorsements or requirements for a sufficient level of security, but we will do what we can to make sure you get the right cover.
As for liability cover, if someone is injured on the property and sues you there is cover available to help with legal expenses. This is often included in standard home insurance, but as a landlord with more properties the risk only increases with tenants and other people visiting the property. Emerald includes £2m of public liability cover as standard, but we do allow the option for an increase in cover to £5m, depending on the customer’s needs.
To finish, “Do I need landlord insurance and building insurance?” is a common question on internet searches. If you have any other questions about landlord cover with Emerald, then please look at our FAQs, or contact us from our website.
