No-one likes paying insurance premiums – they really are the most negative of all household expenses. Either they are a complete waste of money, or they aren’t but your house has been reduced to rubble. It’s a lose-lose situation all the way.
When you’re taking care of your own property, you are always prepared to go that extra mile to ensure that the worst never happens. You always check the gas is turned off and the front door is locked properly when you leave. It’s your home, so you know treating it recklessly is ultimately stealing money straight from you own pocket.
However, you can never have those assurances when your property is inhabited by tenants. You vetted them well-enough, their references were up to scratch and they seemed like genuinely nice people. However, you can never be totally sure that they will treat the property as though it were their own. And that is why insurance, miserable though it may be, is an essential part of a landlord’s life.
That said, it doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to alleviate the monthly damage to your wallet. Therefore here are our top five tips to ensure that your Residential Landlord Insurance payments aren’t as painful as they could be.
Insure for the correct amount
The Buildings Sum Insured (BSI) should be for the rebuild cost of the property: essentially how much it would cost to rebuild the property from scratch were it totally destroyed. This is almost always considerably more than the value of the property, especially where house prices are quite high. To get an accurate rebuild cost either get a professional survey done, or for a far cheaper option, visit the Association of British Insurers who will be able to help you arrive at the correct amount.
Shop around
I know it sounds like obvious advice, but checking out all the offers out there really is the best way to cut pounds from your premium. Don’t just get three or four different insurance quotes – for the best chance of real savings you should be looking at obtaining ten or so. A saving of twenty pounds a month over the course of a year will more than make up for that extra effort.
Make sure you are alarmed
Attaching a suitable intruder alarm to a property can reduce the premium dramatically. However, before heading down to Robert Dyas, find out from your chosen insurers which sorts or makes of alarm are included within their policy requirements.
More is better
In a similar way to covering second cars, insurers sometime give sizeable discounts on multiple properties. So if you have a portfolio of properties, it could make financial sense to move them all under one policy.
It’s all about the tenants
As I said above, you may not be completely confident that they are treating your property with the respect it deserves. However, if you can prove to your insurer that your tenants are professionals in full-time employment, then they will consider them veritable angels and the premium should plummet accordingly.
