Insurance for Buy To Let
I was quoted in yesterday's "Sunday Times" by in house column writer Rosie Millard - see link.
The article was about whether it was worth getting specialist landlords insurance - which, in my view, is essential if you let out property.
It was a good article though I had reservations about some of the things that were said. But hey, that's journalism!
On a connected issue, a friend asked me if its ever getting insurance to protect the rent in the event of tenant default.
My experience is "Yes, if you can afford it."
However, the last time I looked the cost was about 3 to 4% of the rental income but cover only kicked in after 2 months unpaid rent and was limited to 12 months in total.
Also, in my experience (with the provider I looked at anyway), none of my tenants would have scored high enough on the credit score to have qualified for the cover. And yet none of those tenants who I took on anyway ever defaulted.
Different providers may have less stringent rules on the kind of tenants they accept to cover, but my experience was that the tenants would have to be very blue chip indeed to have been covered under that particular scheme.
If you are a provider of such insurance and your requirements are less tight, do let me know and I'll happily put you to the test.
Copyright D. Lawrenson 2007 Backto site:www.lettingfocus.com
The article was about whether it was worth getting specialist landlords insurance - which, in my view, is essential if you let out property.
It was a good article though I had reservations about some of the things that were said. But hey, that's journalism!
On a connected issue, a friend asked me if its ever getting insurance to protect the rent in the event of tenant default.
My experience is "Yes, if you can afford it."
However, the last time I looked the cost was about 3 to 4% of the rental income but cover only kicked in after 2 months unpaid rent and was limited to 12 months in total.
Also, in my experience (with the provider I looked at anyway), none of my tenants would have scored high enough on the credit score to have qualified for the cover. And yet none of those tenants who I took on anyway ever defaulted.
Different providers may have less stringent rules on the kind of tenants they accept to cover, but my experience was that the tenants would have to be very blue chip indeed to have been covered under that particular scheme.
If you are a provider of such insurance and your requirements are less tight, do let me know and I'll happily put you to the test.
Copyright D. Lawrenson 2007 Backto site:www.lettingfocus.com
This entry was posted by lettingfocus, on
Monday, January 29, 2007.
