Landlords Risk Losing Insurance Claims
UK Buy to let landlords have been warned not to try and make false economies by attempting to make savings on their annual insurance premiums.
The warning has come from Michael Portman, managing director of tenancy referencing and insurance firm Let Risks. He says that in the current financial climate, landlords are trying to keep their premiums low to make savings.
The result, he says, is that there has been a large rise in the number of private rental sector (PRS) properties that are “significantly under-insured”.
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When the banking crisis struck back in 2008, mortgage lending in the UK virtually ceased as lenders became wary of the toxicity of sub-prime mortgage loans and raised their lending criteria (and lowered their Loan To Value ratios) to unprecedented and highly restrictive levels, virtually killing the property market.
This meant that properties became financial […]
Reluctant Landlords have been avoiding insurance obligations
When the banking crisis struck back in 2008, mortgage lending in the UK virtually ceased as lenders became wary of the toxicity of sub-prime mortgage loans and raised their lending criteria (and lowered their Loan To Value ratios) to unprecedented and highly restrictive levels, virtually killing the property market.
This meant that properties became financial millstones for many people who were unable to sell, resulting in an upsurge of reluctant or “accidental” landlords who were able to take advantage of a booming rental market caused by the fact that potential property buyers were forced to hand over substantial deposits in order to be allowed a mortgage or were unable to obtain mortgages due to the tightening of the lending criteria and were subsequently forced to rent!
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Having The Correct Insurance Saves Money
Landlords are being urged to reassess any insurance policies they may already have taken out, in order to avoid the possibility of underinsurance, after one poor unsuspecting landlord was left more than £100,000 (GBP) out of pocket.
The landlord unfortunately suffered a fire in the block of flats he owned and submitted a claim for nearly £400,000 before realising that his insurance policy didn’t cover anywhere near that amount.
As a consequence he received less than £300,000 (GBP) and had to find the remaining money himself.
This may appear to be a particularly extreme example of underinsurance and highlights the importance of ensuring that Landlord Insurance liability is sufficient to cover the full value of rebuilding the property.
In the current financial climate, it is more crucial to look at the levels of cover rather than the bottom line premium.
- 10% of all fire claims are due to tenants smoking in rental property
- 5% are due to candles
- 5% are due to faulty electrical wiring.
The statistics also show that Houses Of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) are more likely to suffer an insurance claim for fire damage than a family home.
