Talk to me about 'letting' insurance.

[King Herald]

We're renting our house out starting in June, as we're moving to the Philippines. The place is about as far from the UK as you can get without taking a spaceship, so we're using a letting agent, at full management level, and I'm curious of the ins and outs of insurance, who to use, what level of cover etc.

We obviously need minimum level building cover, but we really want to make sure we don't get stiffed for non payment of rent, malicious damage, squatterism and any other nightmare situations that could arise.

Any suggestions or advice on this front? Recommendations for companies etc.

[Wings]

Most letting agents will both advise and offer such an insurance schemes, also compare insurance sites will offer comparison quotes, with lots of further advice for you on this link;

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/Insurance/insurance....

[King Herald]

Wings said:

Most letting agents will both advise and offer such an insurance schemes, also compare insurance sites will offer comparison quotes, with lots of further advice for you on this link;

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/Insurance/insurance....

Thanks for that, some interesting stuff there.

[Wings]

I personally have never considered the rental guarantee type of insurance, since I both believe that one would have to pay through the nose to get such a guarantee, and also there would be so many stipulations, that unless the tenant had the character of a vicar, judge or film star, okay you know what I’m trying to say, then the insurance would simply become void.

Whilst the letting agent you employ will possibly advise you of the following. For guarantees on rental payments, it is possibly the vetting of the potential tenant/s, and once the tenant/s is selected, then, as I do, obtain a person/s as a Deed of Guarantee for the rental payments and possible damage during the tenant/s tenancy.

I let all my properties unfurnished, there being three reasons for this, the first being health & safety regulations , items having to conform to either gas, electrical or fire risks etc. The second reason being that the more items there are in a property, the more items can break, go wrong, so the more one can have with call outs and subsequently maintenance costs. And lastly, if the tenant/s provide their own effects, furnishings, then moving is more of a chore for them, and they therefore tend to stay longer.

Try to find and talk to local landlords, get their advice on a good, trusting independent letting agent.

[King Herald]

Wings said:

I personally have never considered the rental guarantee type of insurance......
.........I let all my properties unfurnished, there being three reasons for this, the first being health & safety regulations , items having to conform to either gas, electrical or fire risks etc. The second reason being that the more items there are in a property, the more items can break, go wrong, so the more one can have with call outs and subsequently maintenance costs. And lastly, if the tenant/s provide their own effects, furnishings, then moving is more of a chore for them, and they therefore tend to stay longer.

Try to find and talk to local landlords, get their advice on a good, trusting independent letting agent.

We've decided to use Reed Rains as an agent, having spoken to about six local companies. Not sure why we chose them, as they all appear to be much of a muchness, and we don't really know any people around here who do letting to get advice from.

I'll ask about the rental payment insurance, see what the price is, as I beleive there is a complete package available, property, damage etc, and for our first year I think we'll want all the coverage we can get, until we learn a little about it all.

We will be letting unfurnished, for the very reasons you mentioned.

We already have British Gas central heating, plumbing, drains etc insurance, so we'll let them know we are letting the place and see whether they'll still cover us.

Edited by King Herald on Friday 30th April 20:30

[Wings]

Your property, prior to showing potential tenants around, will require an Energy Performance Certificate, link http://epc.direct.gov.uk/index.html, and once a tenant is found, the production of an annual Gas Safety Certificate for all gas appliances in the property (boiler, fire etc), the same following an inspection by a gas engineer registered under the new Gas Safe Register (previously Corgi register). British Gas will both be able produce such a certificate and do offer an annual maintenance contracted for rental properties.

The electrics do not require an inspection or certification, although with the former, if you do have any concerns, then an inspection/works should be carried out by a competent electrician.

Whilst your home is obviously up together, quick checks and remedial works now on such items as bleeding radiators, replacing faulty lamp holders etc. etc. can save later mind boggling trades persons bills.

Finally either check or install a couple of smoke detectors, take internal, external photos of the property, and produce for your own memory/record a written inventory of the property.