Buy-to-Let Landlord Insurance

Buy-to-let has become a common description for the business of owning a property with the specific objective of letting it out to tenants.

Buy-to-let insurance, also commonly referred to as let property insurance, is a type of landlord insurance policy specifically designed to protect buy-to-let investment properties.

The success and long-term security of any such buy-to-let properties are likely to be protected by having a buy-to-let insurance policy.

Why do you need buy-to-let insurance?

If you don’t have buy-to-let insurance and something happens to your property – such as fire, theft, flood or other damage – you will have to find the funds to rectify the damage or replace any items yourself.

Since the property is exposed to a surprisingly wide range of risks and perils, it can be beneficial to protect it carefully with the appropriate form of insurance cover. In the event that something happens to your property – such as fire, theft, flood or other damage – without buy-to-let insurance, you will have to find the costs of rectifying the damage or replacing any items yourself.

What does buy-to-let insurance cover?

Buy-to-let insurance typically covers the buildings (and contents if required) against unexpected events such as fire, flood, theft and many more. It may also provide the following types of cover:

Landlord liability cover

• If one of your tenants, one of their visitors or even a member of the public suffers an injury or has their property damaged through any kind of contact with your let property, you may be held responsible for a breach of your duty of care towards such individuals.

• Claims for compensation may reach very substantial proportions, so it is common for buy-to-let landlord insurance to include indemnity against claims of at least £1 million.

Employers’ liability

• The law holds that you have a special duty of care towards anyone you employ to help run your buy-to-let business. Therefore, you’re required to hold a minimum of £5 million indemnity against the risk of any employee suffering an injury or contracting a medical condition or illness through their work for you.
• Typically, this option is available as an add-on to your existing landlord insurance cover.

Loss of rent (optional)

• Your buy-to-let business relies upon a constant stream of income from rents, which may be disrupted if a major insured event leaves the building temporarily uninhabitable.  

• Therefore, it is common for buy-to-let insurance to provide compensation for any resulting loss of rental income (up to pre-agreed limits).

Landlord contents (optional)

Even if you provide an unfurnished let property, there may still be items you own in the communal areas that will require cover.

What you need to know when buying cover

It is important to know that buy-to-let insurance is different from the standard home buildings and contents policies that are typically arranged by an owner-occupier for their own home.

The use of the property is different and, therefore, creates different risks and perils when the premises are occupied by tenants. Your role as a landlord is essentially that of a business investor.

These are the reasons why you need the specialist cover that buy-to-let home insurance provides.

If you have multiple let properties, then you can typically insure all these properties under one buy-to-let portfolio insurance policy. This means you only have one policy to renew and manage, saving you time.

And because these buy-to-let insurance portfolio policies typically attract a discount, you may also save money on the cost of your cover too.

Are all buy-to-let insurance policies the same?

While buy-to-let insurance policies all typically share the same goal – to provide protection of your buildings and contents (if required) – policy features and benefits vary between insurance providers.

For example, at UKinsuranceNET we include cover for the following elements of protection as standard:

• Malicious damage by tenants (certain exclusions apply)
• Subsidence cover.
• No restriction on tenant type (professional, working, student, benefits recipients, asylum seekers, Airbnb, holiday let).

Not all policy providers will include this cover as standard, so it is important to understand what your chosen policy covers.

Why choose us?

At UKinsuranceNET, we understand the complexities faced by landlords of buy-to-let properties and can provide a range of buy-to-let house insurance products to make your life easier.