Landlord’s Insurances (Buy to Let)
Whether
buying your first property to let, a seasoned landlord
with a large portfolio or a managing agent, we have everything you need.
We are
independent insurance brokers, financial and mortgage advisors offering all
types of insurance, mortgages and financial planning for the landlord
or managing agent. If you want something
not listed here, e-mail a request (see link below) - we will try and help.
Whatever the cost, we can
help you control it and ensure you have the correct cover and advice. We do this in the following ways:
Discussing
with you ways in which you are exposed to risk.
There is no point in insuring what is never going to happen, but not insuring
something which could ruin years of planning and hard
work varies from a slight commercial risk to the downright foolish, depending
on circumstances.
Advising you on ways of managing and reducing your risk.
It can be surprising how often a slight change in work procedures can
reduce insurance premiums or make otherwise unavailable cover possible at
reasonable cost.
We
have been professional insurance brokers for many years. Whilst one can never pretend to know all
about everything, if we don’t have the experience of a
particular feature, we know someone who will have. We should be to your insurances what your
accountant’s advice is to your financial accounts. And you wouldn’t
dream of being without him!
We
add value to what you buy from your insurers and we know if they are being
unreasonable in terms and conditions or when they are charging too much for the
risk involved. If there is a more
cost-effective solution, we shall be working to secure it for you.
A
brief list of what is available:
We are completely independent
mortgage advisors, with access to all the lenders (as far as we know) who lend
on “buy to let.” We
up-date our mortgage sourcing software every day, to avoid your missing out on
the latest good deals.
We do not simply look at the lowest
initial interest rate. Many lenders
offer catchpenny schemes which claw back their “gift”
very quickly. We ask you to tell us your
needs and then we examine carefully the list of available lenders to see who is
the most cost effective over several periods: for most clients this is 3 years,
5 years and the full mortgage term. It’s not as simple as taking the cheapest; usually the
different lists we compile have several lenders and the best course of action
is not immediately obvious. We then help
you select the ones best for you, using our market knowledge and professional
judgement. We may need to discuss
matters further with you before arriving at our conclusions.
In asking us for this service you
are tapping into:
over 30 years’ professional mortgage
sourcing experience.
the very latest computer search and
analysis tools.
Usually we are
paid by commission from the lender.
As your mortgage would not cost any less were you to deal direct with
the lender there would seem little sense in your dealing with a lender
direct. Lenders also have schemes which are only available through firms such as our
own. Additionally we progress your
application through to completion, where our experience can prove invaluable
for a successful conclusion.
Very occasionally
we may find it is in your interests to deal with a lender who does not pay
commission. In that case
we will tell you in advance and agree a fee with you. Either way no money will be
spent without your prior knowledge and approval. (To put this in perspective, it is extremely
rare.)
Insuring your property – Not doing this properly can result in financial
disaster. When measured against the
risks involved it isn’t expensive.
Domestic property:
Insuring “buy to let” homes is not
as straightforward as insuring your own home.
Most home insurers will not insure “buy to let.” Those who do often don’t
provide an adequate policy wording under their normal home insurance policy;
for example, accidental damage cover is often not available.
Do not allow
someone to persuade you that an ordinary home insurance policy will do the job
– it won’t! And if you ignore
this advice don’t think the insurers won’t find out on a claim – they will,
with the likely result that your claim will not be met!
We have several specialist schemes
available and will offer you the one which (in our
opinion) offers the best combination of terms, conditions and competitive
premium.
Buildings cover:
·
Please
insure for the full rebuilding cost, NOT the market value of the property.
¨ You would want the insurers to clear
the site and rebuild the property if it came to the worst, so that is what you
insure for.
¨ If you don’t
know how much this is, the lender will usually say what their surveyor thinks
it should be (see mortgage offer).
¨
The
Association of British Insurers web site (http://www.abi.org.uk
or http://abi.bcis.co.uk/) gives advice on
setting sums insured; or ask an Architect or Chartered Surveyor.
¨ If you don’t
have a mortgage, the surveyor who looked at the property for you will probably
have a good idea.
·
It is for you, the insured, to set
the sum insured. We don’t
know the property and, in any event, we are not valuers.
·
You
may decide to insure for what the property may be worth on the open
market. This may (only
may!) be ok, but rebuilding costs can be quite different from that; sometimes
less and sometimes more.
·
Blocks
of flats – we can insure individual apartments, though it is usual for a
management company to insure the whole block.
If yours is done this way, ensure the managers
know and have told the insurers that you have tenants in the property; ask for
written evidence from the insurers. We
can arrange cover for either individual flats or for
the whole block.
Property owners’ liability:
·
Example
– someone’s head gets split and you get sued! Do not
go without this cover!
·
We
include it as standard. Some of our
insurers offer £1 million cover, others £2 million. We prefer at least £2 million, as liability
claims can be very expensive. An
accident putting someone in a wheelchair could easily cost £1.5 million….
Contents cover - Our main schemes (we have others)
offer the following 3 options:
·
Landlord’s LIMITED contents.
This includes carpets, curtains and white goods only, with a total sum
insured of £5,000 per dwelling. By far the most popular cover.
·
Landlord’s full contents. This can be rated on sum insured or on the number of bedrooms in
your property. (N.B. Tenant’s contents -
If you are asked, a tenant’s property must be insured separately by the tenant;
landlords have no insurable interest in a tenant’s
goods. We can arrange separate insurance
for tenants’ property; please ask your tenant to contact us direct or put us in
touch with him/her.)
Not to insure contents at all.
Commercial or Mixed Use Property:
This is a complex subject, needing a
bespoke plan to ensure correct insurance at competitive rates. Please e-mail (link below) your requirements
(please include your daytime telephone number) or telephone 01332 380149 for a
discussion. Our Managing Director, Mr
Richard Brown, will deal with this personally.
Re-mortgaging:
Interest rates have fallen to their
lowest since the 1950’s. Many landlords have mortgages which are uncompetitive in today’s
market.
We can arrange a re-mortgage for an
individual property or for entire portfolios at the best rates available.
Please read “Buying your Property”
(see above) for more complete details of how we work
to help you reduce costs and increase your profit.