Insurance on Property

A lot of landlords are unaware of what their home insurance covers and are shocked to find out that they are actually underinsured. It is important to be aware of the real value of the insurance cover because even if home prices are low, rebuilding costs are quite high.

Usually, the value of rebuilding a property is not the same as the market value; therefore insurers and surveyors share some information that could help in assessing the real worth of your property. Just make sure you get a surveyor’s report.

In determining the rebuilding cost of your home, you have to know its dimensions and floor area. On the other hand, you have to make sure of your insurance amount and cover so to avoid expensive loss.

The hidden costs of rebuilding your property that are most likely covered by your insurance are the following:

  • Site clearance costs
  • Architect’s fees
  • Survey costs
  • Cost of rebuilding the property into its original state
  • Compliance with local authority and government requirements

Also, having the right amount of landlord insurance could raise your premium.

There are four specific areas where insurance protection for landlords falls:

  1. Building and/or contents insurance that protects the landlord’s physical building and its contents.
  2. Legal expenses that covers the landlord’s incurred legal costs when a tenant damages a property or refuses to leave.
  3. Rental protection that guarantees the rent if ever the tenant defaults.
  4. Emergency home assistance that provides cover for emergency call outs.

Home building insurance is also different from landlord’s building insurance in a way that the latter covers properties for residential use and a requirement of landlord mortgages. Also, the landlord’s contents insurance covers the landlord’s properties that are being used by the tenant such as a refrigerator, television, and other furniture.

Legal expenses insurance offers access to legal expertise and costs of legal actions such as evicting tenants and recovery of costs due to malicious damage.

Rent guarantee insurance protects the landlord when the tenant fails to pay the rent. This is very helpful more especially to those landlords who just rely on the monthly rents of tenants for their income.

Emergency insurance is very convenient for a landlord’s everyday life. These emergency repairs could be electrical system repairs, heater, plumbing, security, etc.

Home insurance, building insurance, or landlord’s insurance—all are very important. Be sure that you are not underinsured to avoid worse problems in the future.

John Cutts