Many dental and medical professionals choose property as part of their investment portfolio. Often these are buy-to-let opportunities, which means you become a landlord. There are a number of additional responsibilities and key things to think about when making that transition from homeowner to landlord. This is where the difference between home insurance and landlord insurance becomes important.
If you are unsure if you need landlord insurance here are some considerations.
Renting out a property is never entirely without risk. If you make a claim on your home insurance for an incident at your rented property, without specialist landlord cover your insurer will likely reject the claim. There is no legal obligation to have home or landlord insurance but if you have a mortgage, your lender might require this as part of your agreement.
Landlord responsibilities
You have a responsibility to ensure you provide a safe, liveable home to tenants. Things can become expensive and time consuming if they go wrong and therefore, insurance is a good option for peace of mind. You can choose to cover your property if a number of things go wrong, such as:
- Alternative accommodation for tenants if an insured incident has caused the property to be unfit for living.
- Property Owner’s Liability for incidents that cause damage to the property or results in a person becoming ill or injured.
- Emergency repairs that are required following an incident such as loss of heating or hot water.
- Emergency tenant overnight accommodation where applicable.
Other cover
Many areas can be covered under Landlord insurance, including buildings, contents, liability, emergency assistance, legal expenses and rent guarantees.
As well as the above responsibilities, a landlord can choose to protect themselves and their property further.
Some key areas include:
- Tenant damage, including accidental and other damage
- Rental guarantee if tenant does not pay
- Loss of rent following an insured incident
- Legal expenses and costs related to any proceedings for an insured incident such as recovery of rent, eviction or repossession.
- Repair of damage to the property caused by its use of a tenant for illegal drugs manufacturing
- Additional benefits if also choose contents cover – such as lock replacement for lost keys and theft from outbuildings.
Important to remember
To keep your policy valid, it is important to tell your insurer about any changes in circumstances, such as, new tenants and empty or ‘void’ periods.
If you are new to property, or have an entire portfolio, it’s useful to have expert advice when choosing the right insurance. There are a number of areas that you can insure and a specialist broker with access to the right policies can help make sure that you are fully protected.
AllMedPro works with many dental and medical professionals to insure their whole portfolio of risk. As well as residential landlord insurance, we also cover commercial units and unoccupied buildings. As a trusted partner, we understand the specific needs and circumstances and can help you find the right level of cover for you.
Find out more
Find out more about our property insurance for medical and dental professionals and contact us to discuss your property insurance requirements.