Landlord insurance

[RemaL]

Sorry if this is another "landlord insurance" question

I have just purchased a bungalow with my mother and Should be putting the deposit down in just over a weeks time.

We have bought this house as a future investment sort of thing and will be renting it out. This is our first house/bungalow we have bought and i thought PH would be the idea place to ask with regards to Landlord insurance.

The bungalow is currently unoccupied and is only 2 doors up from my mums own home. So we know the area well and houses.
We are going to update the place as it was owned by a elderly person (Only minor stuff, paint paper new bathroom)

But we have to have landlord insurance set up on the day we put the deposit down. Unsure why we need to but this has been sorted by both solicitors.

Who do people recommend? Use? I've googled around a few places I found via PH search but if I put currently unoccupied we are unable to get a price.
Due to the area and type of home it's going to most probably be let to professionals or Retired people. Just my guess.


Cheers Matt

[98elise]

Direct line are fine. Any landlord insurer will let normally you have voids periods of around 30 days without issue.

[S6PNJ]

I use Alan Boswell and they've been pretty good on price over the last 3 years or so. No issues with them but then I've never needed to claim!

[dacouch]

It's not straight forward to do when the property is unoccupied and / or being refurbished, so you need to start looking now.

Make sure you read and fully understand any requirements the Insurer have for unoccupied properties and properties being refurbished

[RemaL]

cheers all the advice and info. Will be looking this week

[dacouch]

It's not straight forward to do when the property is unoccupied and / or being refurbished, so you need to start looking now.

Make sure you read and fully understand any requirements the Insurer have for unoccupied properties and properties being refurbished

[Stevemr]

Listen, you want insurance that covers rent insurance. I am an IFA and use L and G. Keep them informed re tenants.
Rent insurance covers you if tenant sops paying rent, you loose first months rent then it kicks in and pays rent and legal fees for getting rid of the tenant.
Its the best advice I can give a land lord!

[RemaL]

Advice always welcome and thanks again.

[insurance_jon]

As said above, unoccupied investment property (especially with refurb works) is a delicate area. We specialise in both unoccupied and landlords insurance if you need a hand

[RemaL]

Why is it difficult or "not straightforward" to sort out unoccupied insurance? I would have thought there was less to go wrong. We will only be having items serviced and new bathroom. paint and paper. Not like we are having a new boilder, gas messed with, knocking down walls etc..

Just getting things up to scratch and ready for a new tenant

[dacouch]

RemaL said:

Why is it difficult or "not straightforward" to sort out unoccupied insurance? I would have thought there was less to go wrong. We will only be having items serviced and new bathroom. paint and paper. Not like we are having a new boilder, gas messed with, knocking down walls etc..

Just getting things up to scratch and ready for a new tenant

Unoccupied and properties undergoing refurbishment have a far higher frequency of claims and the claims tend to be for much higher amounts than normal properties.

Unoccupied properties are more likely to be broken into (Frequently to steal the pipework) / vandalised / or the subject of arson and they also have a tendency for pipes to freeze and then burst.

When there is damage to the property, there's no one in the property so the damage often goes unnoticed for many days meaning the damage becomes far worse. Imagine the damage a leaking pipe does if the property is not visited for seven days.

Properties undergoing refurbishment are far more likely to catch fire (Than a normal property) due to the work the builders are under taking, there's also an increased theft risk due to property possibly being less secure and also people being in and out eg builders who are not family members and may be tempted to keep a copy of the key and return at a later date to steal items. You also have the possibilty of structural work being carried out eg removing an internal wall which cause structural damage to the property.

Basically they both have a far higher frequency of claims and for higher amounts so most Insurers will not touch an unoccupied property and / one under going refurbishment which you will discover when you ring around for quotes

[RemaL]

many thanks for that. And I know understand a little more about the difficulties in getting unoccupied landlord insurance

[northwest monkey]

Give UK Insurance a call. They insure all ours and are brilliant. It's done over the phone with a real person so you'll get the cover you need.

Good to deal with as well when (hopefully if) you need to make a claim.