Article by Richard Burgess
There may well be times when, as a landlord, your property may be empty and you may need to think about unoccupied property insurance.
Even if you have landlords cover already in place, you may find that this may not provide protection for your property if it lies empty for periods of 30 days or more. This is because the risks to your property change when there is no one living in it.
The presence of tenants in your property may help deter opportunistic thieves or vandals. They may typically also be depended on to report any faults or damage to you, which can then be put right promptly, thereby preventing further and possibly more severe damage.
The reason why your property is empty does not really matter:
• you may be about to carry out major refurbishment or repair;• perhaps work already under way by builders has been delayed;• you may be experiencing problems finding new tenants; • perhaps your new tenants have been delayed.
The important factor is that the property is unoccupied.
Nor is unoccupied property insurance just a requirement for landlords. Owner occupiers may also require it if they:
• are away from home on an extended holiday or business trip;• have a property that is under probate;• have inherited a property that is surplus to requirements and is on the market or awaiting finalisation of sale contracts etc.
The terms and conditions attached to unoccupied property insurance policies may differ to those for standard landlords cover.
You may, for example, be required to:
• keep the garden, if you have one; tidy with the grass cut, have builders rubbish cleared away and so on, as these can be tell tale signs of a property being empty;• make sure that your property is well and regularly maintained thereby helping to nip potential and possibly more severe problems in the bud;• keep a log of the dates of visits and the work carried out;• arrange for lights to automatically light up windows as darkness falls;• ensure that heating and water systems are drained down to help reduce the risks of water damage to your property.
You may or may not have control over whether your buy to let property is going to be empty or for how long. What you do have though is the means, through unoccupied property insurance, to ensure that your property has cover adequate to provide you with the financial protection you expect.
About the Author
Richard Burgess is Director of cover4letproperty (http://www.cover4letproperty.co.uk) a dedicated UK landlord insurance broker. Their easy to use site and friendly staff will get you multiple quotes from specialist insurers for landlords insurance at a competitive price.
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