If you’re planning to rent your home, first do your research about landlords insurance. That’s because regular homeowner’s insurance will not cover your investment property once a tenant moves in. As insurance advisors, we know our stuff and have done the hard work for you, compiling this key guide about the must know aspects of landlords insurance for you.

Making Understanding Landlord Insurance Simple

In a nutshell, landlords insurance can cover your rental for a range of situations, from damage throughout to loss of rental income. Like with all insurance policies, the cover you receive depends on multiple factors. Your premium, past insurance history, the type of policy and even the property’s location are taken into consideration by the insurer and result in the offer they make to you.

If your rental is freehold, insurance may not be compulsory. However, if it has a mortgage, then the lender will want it fully covered! We recommend that all rental properties be insured because you never know what’s going to happen.

What Does Landlord Insurance Cover?

As a landlord, there are additional risks your property faces, compared with if it was owner-occupied. Because of these risks, the policy covers different aspects and is customised for your property and needs. In general, having insurance for your rental can cover you for things such as:

• Natural disasters
• Fire
• Property damage caused by chemical contamination, vandalism or accidents
• Liability protection, such tenant injury or carelessness
• Theft or malicious damage by tenants
• Loss or rent due to a disaster or damage
• Drug manufacture, exposure or residue contamination
•  Furnishings including curtains, carpet and other furniture

Getting the Right Amount Of Insurance Cover

Like with other insurance products, you want to ensure you are fully covered and at the lowest cost. Yes, you could head to one of the big insurance sites and fill in their forms online to get an instant quote. You could even sign up on the spot. The question is though, should you?

As insurance advisors, our team knows that everyone is different and in this case, not all rental properties are the same. Consequently, we never take a generic view of our clients. We sit down and find out about specifics related to your rental property, discuss the pros and cons of certain types of coverage and approach multiple insurers on your behalf to get the best deal for you. Its free for you too, as the insurers simply pay us a fee once you commence your policy.

Come and book a time to chat with one of our team now. We’re here to make obtaining landlords insurance easier and more affordable for our clients throughout New Zealand.