Property Owners Insurance to protect your assets

Are you looking for insurance quotations for your buy to let insurance or landlords' insurance ?

Property is an important asset both to individuals and companies. It is therefore important to ensure that the insurance cover on your buy to let  property is a quality policy that covers all your requirements.

When taking out a policy, price is not the important issue, as you often get what you pay for.  Many landlords find out too late that they did not have the cover they hoped they had.

What questions should I ask my Buy To Let Insurer?

Some of the areas that you need to specifically ask your insurers about cover are:-
1. Do I have cover for malicious damage by tenants ?
2. What cover do you give when the property is unoccupied?
3. How much do you charge me when the property is unoccupied?
4. What period of time does the policy automatically cover me for unoccupancy?
5. Does the policy cover me for unlawful use of the property e.g. by cannabis farmers?
6. Does the policy have Trace and Access cover and is there a limit?

We deal with a large range of insurers and policies offering a wide range of cover, and can provide cover for all types of landlords and property owners.

The Landlords Insurance policies that we recommend can include:

• All Risks cover on buildings including subsidence cover.
• Breakdown cover (e.g. air conditioning, lifts, electric shutters)
• Contents cover (if required)
• Contents of common parts
• Loss of rent or alternative accommodation cover
• Property Owners Liability cover up to £5 Million
• Legal Expenses and Legal Indemnities
• Loss Recovery Insurance
• Directors and Officers Liability
• Independent Inspections on lifts or lifting equipment
• Malicious Damage by tenants (not all policies include this cover, they may include malicious damage cover but exclude malicious damage by tenants)
• Wide Unoccupied wording
• Accidental Damage cover
• No Claims Discount
• Damage caused by unlawful use e.g. use for cannabis farm ( this is not covered under all policies so please ask for advice)

We can cover many types of properties including:-

• Buildings with an adverse claims history
• Buy to Let
• Cancelled Policy history (where insurers have withdrawn cover)
• Commercial Premises
• Chapels
• Churches
• Farm Buildings
• Flats
• Garage insurance
• Landlord Buildings Insurance
• Management companies
• Metal Construction
• Mosques
• Mixed Use Properties
• Offices including unoccupied offices
• Overseas House Insurance
• Properties with an adverse claims history
• Properties in a flood area
• Properties with a subsidence history
• Property Portfolios
• Property insurance for buildings under renovation
• Residential Properties
• Residents associations
• Resident’s management companies
• Self Catering Accommodation
• Shops including unoccupied shops
• Timber construction
• Unoccupied property Insura ce

Why choose L. F. E. Insurance Services for your property Insurance?

• Independent impartial advice and quotations on your property insurance
• Competitive premiums from a wide range of leading insurers
• Cover can be tailored to your individual needs
• Monthly payment facility
• Discounts available for good security
• Independent advice and help on your claims

Ring Sashi today on 0116 284 6093 for independent impartial insurance advice and a quotation on your Landlords' property insurance requirements or if you would like insurance cover comparison information






or

Ring Julie today on 0116 284 6094 for independent impartial advice and a quotation on your Buy to Let  insurance requirements or if you would like insurance cover comparison information

or

Click here for an immediate online property owners quote.

or Click here for a quote on an unoccupied property.

For general enquiries or a bespoke quotation, click here.

Critical Insurance Covers for Buy to Let and Landlords' Insurance

What are the critical covers to consider in an landlords' insurance product?

Advice from C P Walker, providers of Property Protector, one of our providers that we recommend for their  very wide policy wording :
Material Damage claims represent the largest number of claims paid by insurers with the wet peril of burst pipes, flood and storm representing 40% of all losses.

Trace & Access Insurance Cover

Adequate Trace & Access cover for all types of pipes is an essential extension of cover as finding the internal or external leak is the key to factor in limiting your loss. Many of the cheaper premium contracts restrict or exclude the trace and access extension thereby limiting the total claim to the actual damage caused by the leak.

Malicious Damage by Tenant

20% of claims made by landlords are caused malicious damage, largely by tenant, with the average claim being around £7,000 mark. Cannabis Farm claims are normally paid under the malicious damage peril and these are normally large claims. The average claim paid under the Property Protector Scheme for this type of incident has been over £40,000.Many of our competitors exclude or restrict this cover.

Fire Claims

Fire claims represent about 18% of the claims paid so again adequate cover is essential but without the above extensions you can be left exposed to the more frequent incidents in your property.

Liability Covers

Adequate liability covers for both property owners and employer’s liability is essential but not compulsory. Many contracts offer employers liability as an optional extra.

This in our view is a risky approach, although the claim frequency is small these claims tend to be large as they normally result in personal injury to people. Remember any casual labour you use for cleaning, decorating or gardening your property are deemed to be your employees under the terms of the legislation.

Cannabis Farms the modern property owners risk.

What is the Issue?

An increasing number of residential landlords are suffering damage to their properties, giving rise to potential claims, because their premises are being used by their tenant(s) and criminals to grow cannabis.

To help combat this worrying trend we've produced some information which may alert landlords to this growing menace.

Claims from cannabis cultivation

The cultivation process of cannabis causes damage to the property due to:

• fires starting due to the tenants bypassing the electricity meter
• holes being made in walls to pass cables through
• large quantity of water leakage from buckets and pipes
• tenants starting fires to cover their tracks before police raids occur

How to spot if a property is being used as a cannabis factory?

From information taken from our claim files, the following characteristics stand out which may suggest that a property could potentially be being used as a cannabis farm

• Short term let of 3 or 6 month duration
• Rent is paid in cash, sometimes either in full or for a significant period of the let
• Landlords not vetting the tenant(s) sufficiently
• Accepting a telephone number from the prospective tenant purporting to be last landlord as a reference
• No background checks undertaken other than seeing passport of prospective tenant
• Not getting bank details checked as rent is paid in cash
• Promised references not being provided
• Lack of visits to the property undertaken and, if done, external only or limited internal only
• A pungent smell is produced which may be noticed through the walls of adjoining properties
• Window blinds or curtains always drawn to prevent anyone seeing what's going on
• Condensation on windows
• Sub letting being allowed, with no control of sub tenant activities
• No particular location issues, some very respectable premises / areas have been used as a cannabis factory
• No managing or letting agent employed to manage the property or vet the tenant details

Tips for landlords to prevent use of your property as a cannabis farm

You can take the following reasonable precautions

• Do not accept payment of rent in cash, insist on payment via Bank
• Be wary of short term lets without undertaking rigorous vetting of the prospective tenant
• Ensure you inspect the premises regularly, with internal viewing if possible
• Do not allow sub letting to occur
• Employ a letting or managing agent to manage the tenant vetting process and provide an inspection service on your behalf to identify any misuse of the property early on or if you take on this responsibility make sure you carry out the work to the same standard as a managing agent

Article by The Guardian - Cannabis farms: When buy to let is high to let




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