It is not exactly uncommon to see the phrase ‘cheap landlord insurance’ liberally sprinkled around some buy to let home insurance advertisements. But does cheap landlord insurance really exist?
It depends on what your perception of what you consider is cheap – basically, what is cheap for one person may not prove to be cheap for another. This is because while one landlord may be looking to pay as little as possible for his or her let property insurance cover and will be satisfied with the lowest price, another landlord may want a very comprehensive policy with all the bells and whistles – and the one they choose may not necessarily be the cheapest policy, but cheap considering the cover offered.
Choosing the most suitable landlord insurance
Clearly if you compare a buy to let property insurance policy providing a relatively low level of cover and benefits to one that offers a far higher degree of these things, then you might expect to see that it is more lowly priced relative to the more sophisticated policy.
Yet if the policy providing broader cover is a good match to your requirements, then you may consider it to be ‘cheap at the price’.
Perhaps the most suitable way of finding cover that meets your needs and at a price that you find realistic is by comparing landlords insurance policies (or use our landlord insurance quote service for ease), and weighing up which one offers you the most suitable level of protection and at the lowest cost.
This is because buy to let insurance policies may differ in many areas including where some may offer the following benefits and features while others may not:
- cover for legal fees that arise from an insured risk – that may even include situations where you did not win the case (but typically this would not cover situations where you were taking legal action against tenants for eviction or the recovery of rent arrears);
- trace and access cover – this is cover that will allow you to recover the costs associated with a tradesperson’s explorations seeking to find the origin of a problem (up to pre-agreed limits);
- malicious damage by your tenants – such cover may not be typical on some buy to let property insurance;
- subsidence – once considered an essential part of all buildings insurance, today not all policies will provide it as standard and that may leave you very significantly exposed unless you opt to pay an additional fee;
- loss of rental income protection – you may suffer this surprisingly easily if your property is rendered un-rentable due to an insured risk (specified maximum limits may apply);
- full tenant flexibility – not all policies will offer the same degree of cover irrespective of the nature of the tenants that you have in your property, whereas others may not differentiate between private, student or DSS categories etc;
- the amount of voluntary excess offered – something that may help you reduce your premium. (For example, with our let property insurance, flexible voluntary excesses from £100 – £1000 are available, giving discounts of up to 40% off the premium).
The bottom line may be simply that what is cheap landlord insurance for someone else may be neither cheap nor suitable for you. It may always be advisable to read the policy carefully and study its benefits thoroughly before starting to think about its pricing level.
We are confident that via our services, you will be find landlords insurance providing what we consider to be an excellent range of valuable cover at a cost-attractive price.
