There are two types of landlords:professional ones and reluctant ones (those forced to rent while they wait for the property market to improve). Whichever type you are, you need to get adequate insurance to protect your investment.

Yet, many landlords don’t appreciate that standard home insurance, which provide buildings and contents cover, is not appropriate for rental property. Many do not realise that unless they have written permission from their insurer, standard home insurance will not pay a claim if their property is rented to tenants? Instead, you should take out specialist landlord’s insurance.

So, you ask ‘what’s so different about landlord’s insurance?’ It provides cover specifically designed with the needs and requirements of property-owners that offer houses or flats for rent. This means that as well as the usual building and contents cover (for landlords’ possessions, not their tenants’) you get protection to cover your needs as a landlord.

For example, if an incident makes your rental property uninhabitable your landlord’s insurance will cover the cost of the building work and it will also cover lost rental income while the building work is carried out. In addition, the insurance can provide third party liability to protect you just in case someone is injured while on your property- including a tenant. These days, accident claims are all too common so it pays to be prepared and have adequate property owner’s liability cover.

Optional extra landlords may want to include in their policy is rent guarantee insurance. This provides cover in case your tenants are unable to pay the rent. This may be very useful for landlords that have a large mortgage on their property and heavily rely on rental income to pay their mortgage. Landlords may also want to get legal expenses, accidental damage and home emergency cover included with their policy to provide optimum protection.

If you depend on the income generated by your house or flats for rent, you need to protect your investment and use specialist landlord’s insurance - it is worth it for the peace of mind.