How To Insure More Than One Property

If you are lucky enough to have more than one property then you effectively have a life long investment that you can enjoy. It may be that you own a holiday home and can thus enjoy a few weeks or months in a more relaxing environment every year. Alternatively, you may have one or more properties that you lease out and so will have a regular income well into retirement. It is imperative that you therefore protect you investment as much as possible, and this includes taking out homeowners insurance policies on every property you own and not just the one you reside in full time.

It is possible to cover more than one home under one homeowners insurance policy, but very few insurers actually offer that option. Most will insist on insuring one property at a time. This makes these multiple property homeowners insurance policies very popular. Generally, insurance companies tend to insure your main property and then add additional property onto the policy as an extra, just like they would add emergency cover on. However, the amount of properties you can add on is limited so if you do own several buy to let homes than it may be in your best interests to take out several homeowners insurance policies.

If you do own several buy to let properties then your homeowners insurance policies will be very different for them than your own residential policy. This is because, as a landlord, you only actually need to legally provide cover for the structure, fixtures and fittings. You are obliged to insure your property via a homeowner insurance policy but not your tenants’ property. That is completely up to them to do. However, holiday homes and vacant property will need full cover in the form of vacant house insurance.

Vacant house insurance can give you peace of mind if you do have a second home or have bought a property to redevelop or rent out that may actually be left unoccupied for a period of time. Under homeowners insurance policies, you are obliged to leave your house vacant for no more than 30 consecutive days of the year as a rule. However, vacant house insurance has very few stipulations of the nature. You only have to visit one in a while, if that. However, it may still offer you the same level of cover as homeowners house insurance, depending on the policy that you ultimately choose. It can be more expensive though, so be prepared for the in advance.

Insuring more than one home or property does not have to be a complicated process. A broker can help you to find the best homeowners house insurance policies for you because he or she makes a living from listening to the individual and then searching insurance companies to find the best possible policy, or one that can be tailored to your need. This takes the work out of it for you, and gives you that peace of mind that all of your property is well and truly protected!

How To Choose Buy To Let Home Insurance

Common sense effectively dictates that every individual should take out a house insurance policy in order to protect his or her property. Unfortunately, the unexpected often does happen at the moment and with crimes rates as high as they are at the moment, you cannot afford not to have some sort of protection in place. If you own more than one property and actually rent it out as an extra income then you must have buy to let house insurance. There are a number of reasons why anyone renting out their property should take out house insurance, but you should always shop around to get the best deal.

When choosing the right buy to let house insurance for you, you must first come up with a list of your needs. For example, will your property be occupied all year round or will it be left empty for several months of the year? Do you have specific criteria as to whom you will rent to? What sort of cover will you need? You may not know the answers to some of these questions but you should think about it before taking out house insurance because they will often affect the kind of policy you need.

Regardless of your needs, you must take out a specialist landlord house insurance policy and consult with your mortgage company beforehand. House insurance policies will not pay out if you are leasing your property and have not informed the lender on a policy in this situation, will be perceived as deception. Aside from the legal implications, buy to let house insurance is fundamentally different from regular home insurance and can be tailored to suit your individual needs. However, some insurance companies are more flexible than others so it pays to get quotes as well as an insurance plan before choosing a company to go with.

Most house insurance companies will have a stipulation that will only cover a property if it is left unoccupied for up to 30 days, but some buy to let house insurance policies will afford you up to 90 days. This can come in useful if your property is in student area or if it may be left vacant between tenants. However, bear in mind that some insurers will choose not to accept applications for buy to let house insurance if you are likely to have students living there. They are classed as high-risk tenants as they are the most likely occupiers to cause damage, and thus claims too.

You can never be completely sure about tenants so buy to let house insurance can provide peace of mind. There are add-ons that you can choose to have, such as a 24 hour on call service to get a tradesman to your property at any time of day or night just in case anything does go wrong. It is imperative that you do choose the ideal house insurance policy, with or without add-ons, for you. Your property is valuable so make sure that you treat it as such.