Renting to student tenants can be excellent business for residential landlords. Whether you are letting a single house/flat or an HMO (multi-occupancy building) the advantage is that students tend stay in their accommodation for a full academic year or more. So what do you need from your landlord insurance if renting to students?
Contents insurance
Student tenants should consider insurance for their own laptops and other personal property. But most student property is rented furnished or semi-furnished, so we will work with you to provide adequate cover for furniture and fittings if you require it.
Loss of income cover
Fire, flood or damage caused by high winds can lose you a lot of rental income if it makes your property uninhabitable. We can look to include cover against this in your policy.
Tips for renting to students
- Inspect your property regularly and keep a record of each inspection.
- Create an inventory of the property’s contents and get the students to read and sign it before moving in.
- Check that you’re in compliance with all landlord regulations such as gas and fire checks.
- Give your tenants contact details so they can report any problems straight away.
- Make sure your tenants know where the water mains are, so they can turn the water off in an emergency
- Secure the property with appropriate locks
- Inform tenants of any security features and encourage them to use them at all times
What else will your landlord insurance cover?
The policy includes standard buildings and contents cover, but also:
- Property owners’ liability. Limits from £1m to £10m+ dependent on your needs (£5m is standard). This policy meets your legal costs (following a successful claim) if a member of the public is injured on your property.
- Accidental or malicious damage to property by tenants, for example this may cover damage caused by tenants using your property for the illegal growing of cannabis.
- Subsidence cover included as standard.
- Wasp or bee nests. They can lead to widespread property damage if not treated and removed, so it’s good to know that nest removal is included in your landlord’s insurance quote as standard.
- Employers’ liability insurance should be considered if you employ staff to manage or maintain your property.
Houses of multiple occupancy are considered a high risk by insurers. That’s why the Gallagher team can help find suitable HMO insurance cover to suit your needs.
Every kind of cover
As an HMO landlord your insurance needs are very different from those of a standard let property owner. Only a specialist policy can provide this range of covers, including:
- Loss of rent and buildings cover as standard
- Landlords’ contents if you have furniture in the property
- Alternative accommodation for your tenants
- Legal protection
- Public and property owners’ liability – essential in case tenants or visitors get injured in the property
- Employers’ liability insurance – important if you employ people to manage or maintain the property
The right cover for every type of tenant
- Professional
- DSS/Housing association
- Students
- Asylum Seekers
When you start renting out even a single property, you need to think about all the different types of cover your landlords insurance should consider. It’s simply a matter of protecting your assets and their earning potential.
Isn’t buildings and contents cover enough?
If you just own a single buy to let property, you may believe your buildings and contents insurance provides all the cover you need but there may be other aspects of cover you should consider. It does not cover injury to a tenant in your property for example.
What will your landlord insurance cover?
The policy includes standard buildings and contents cover, but also:
- Property owners’ liability. Limits from £1m to £10m+ dependent on your needs (£5m is standard). This policy meets your legal costs (following a successful claim) if a member of the public is injured on your property.
- Accidental or malicious damage to property by tenants, for example this may cover damage caused by tenants using your property for the illegal growing of cannabis.
- Subsidence cover included as standard.
- Wasp or bee nests. They can lead to widespread property damage if not treated and removed, so it’s good to know that nest removal is included in your landlord’s insurance quote as standard.
- Employers’ liability insurance should be considered if you employ staff to manage or maintain your property. The standard level of cover we offer is £10 million, though other limits are available.
If you rent out property for commercial use it’s important to ensure that it is properly protected. And if you have a mixed commercial portfolio, you need to consider the different uses you may need cover for:
- Warehousing
- Industrial units
- Shops
- Bars and restaurants
- Offices
Talk to our team about your property mix and we’ll find appropriate commercial landlord’s insurance quotations from our panel of insurers
Covers could include:
- Buildings and contents cover
- Loss of rent in case the premises are temporarily unusable
- Landlords’ contents if you have furniture in the property
- Legal protection
- Public and property owners’ liability – essential in case tenants or visitors get injured in the property
- Employers’ liability insurance – important if you employ people to manage or maintain the property
Airbnb and similar schemes are an increasingly popular way for property owners to generate income. It’s easy to simply assume that your normal home insurance, along with the Airbnb Host Guarantee, covers your guests as well, but that isn’t necessarily true. Insurance-wise there are several things you should consider:
Your insurer needs to know
If you don’t tell your insurer that you occasionally welcome Airbnb guests for short stays, they may deem this to be ‘non-disclosure’ and may refuse claims you make. This could even applies to claims that have nothing to do with your Airbnb guests.
Airbnb doesn’t cover some important things
Cash, valuables and pets are all outside the scope of the cover Airbnb provide against damage to your property by guests. If a guest steals money, drops your laptop or harms your dog you are not covered. It also may not cover damage to communal areas such as entrance halls.
Talk to our team about your landlord’s insurance covers you against the real risks of being a host with Airbnb, Wimdu, Housetrip, One Fine Stay and similar schemes and we will look to our insurance partners to provide a suitable level of insurance to meet your needs.
If you rent out property through Airbnb and are looking for appropriate insurance cover, please contact our specialist home insurance team on 01625 348038
When you’re a letting agent, management agent or residents’ association, property owners rely on you to take away all the hassle and get things right. As a management agency or residents’ association, you also should consider having public liability cover for the risks you face on behalf of the property owners.
Talk to our team and discuss your requirements for your circumstances.
What your agent’s landlord insurance needs to cover
- Loss of rent and buildings cover
- Landlords’ contents cover if the properties are let furnished
- Alternative accommodation for the tenants
- Directors’ and Officers’ cover – bespoke cover required for Residents’ Associations, for example
- Public and property owners’ liability – should be considered in case tenants or visitors get injured in the property
- Employers’ liability insurance may need to be considered.
If you’re a landlord with multiple properties, whether all residential, all commercial, land only or a mixed portfolio, you should consider your insurance options carefully.
Why talk to Gallagher about landlord’s insurance for a property portfolio?
- Multi-property discounts
- One simple renewal date
- Easily add additional properties to your insurance when you buy them, or remove them once sold
All the cover you need
- Cover for multiple buildings
- Landlords’ contents cover if you have furniture in any properties
- Alternative accommodation for tenants in case properties have to be evacuated in an emergency?
- Legal protection
- Public and property owners’ liability – essential in case tenants or visitors get injured in the property
- Employers’ liability insurance – important if you employ people to manage or maintain the property
- Optional Directors’ and Officers’ insurance – management liability policies including directors’ and officers’ insurance
- Loss of income cover. If your property is uninhabitable for a period of time, perhaps due to fire or flood your rental income will disappear. Insurance is available to help cover such lost income.
Inclusive cover for different tenant types
- Professionals
- Students
- Tradespeople
- Companies
- DHSS
- Asylum seekers
Unoccupied or under renovation properties can also be covered.
Inclusive cover for different property types
- Houses
- Blocks of flats
- HMOs – Houses of Multiple Occupancy
- Shops
- Industrial units
- Restaurants
- Pubs and Bars
- Offices
Get a Quote
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With you all the way
We want you to stay insured with Gallagher long term, so we’ll be there for you whenever you need advice, a change of policy, additional cover – whatever it takes to help your business thrive.
