Although landlords don’t live in their rental property, it can still be important for them to protect their investment with Landlords Insurance.

It’s a common misconception that standard home insurance will sufficiently cover a rental property; when in most cases it won’t. This is because owning a rental property carries with it additional risk including being liable for accidents of injuries sustained in the property. If you’re looking to protect your buy to let investment then it’s important to consider these factors when shopping for insurance.

Landlords may also wish to protect themselves from accidental damage caused by their tenants. Even the most carefully chosen tenants could pose a risk to the landlord’s property as accidents can and do happen. That’s why Simple Landlord Insurance make it easy to tailor your policy to get the cover you need. They do this by offering cover for a wide range of tenant types, including DSS and Students. Simple even offer bespoke policies (and discounts) for customers with a portfolio of rental properties.

When deciding on your insurance requirements, you may want to consider a number of things including:

1) Whether you just want to insure your building structure, property contents, or both
2) The amount (excess) that you’re willing to pay if you need to make a claim
3) Whether you require additional cover; e.g to protect against loss of rent

Because every landlord and property is different, Simple Landlords Insurance offer a series of additional cover options to help you get the policy that’s right for you. This can include up to £2 million Buildings Insurance Cover, up to £75,000 Contents Cover and Landlords Legal Liability with £2 million cover as standard.

It takes less than 2 minutes to get a quote from Simple Landlords Insurance. And it’s easy to set up your policy online or over the phone. They can even start your cover immediately so your property’s protected.
Once you’ve arranged your cover with Simple Landlords Insurance, it’s easy to manage your policy online 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Need to print off a copy of your policy schedule? Or upgrade your cover at 2am? No problem, it’s easy to do via the Simple Landlords Insurance website secure customer area. And if you prefer to manage your cover over the phone then their friendly UK Call Centre team are only a call away.

When you owe money to another person or organisation and you fall behind on the payments, they may decide to apply for court order against you. When you receive the court order, it is important that you do not ignore it, as an escalation could result in a County Court Judgement (CCJ) being awarded against your name. A court order will usually set a date by which you will be expected to have repaid your debt (in part or in full) and to whom you are expected to pay the amount (usually your creditor or their representative). In the case of a CCJ, if you do not pay-off the full balance within one month of receiving the order to do so, the judgement will stay on your file for 6 years.

Having a CCJ against you will make it very difficult for you to obtain important credit services, such as mortgages, credit cards, loans and home insurance. Ignoring a CCJ is the worst thing you can possibly do, as such action (or lack thereof) will probably do further damage to your credit record. Failure to meet payment deadlines is likely to result in your creditor returning to court to seek an enforcement order, where bailiffs are likely to be appointed to visit you at your home or place of business. Should you meet the one month payment deadline, your CCJ will be removed from the register. If you pay off the total balance after the one month deadline then the CCJ will stay on the register, but will be recorded as “satisfied”. Non-payment causes the CCJ to be recorded as “unsatisfied”.

Suffering a change of circumstance that leaves you unable to meet the terms set out in your CCJ will not automatically excuse you from your obligation to pay. Instead you will need to apply to change the terms at the County Court before you fall behind with your repayments. If you do not take action to change the terms, you will be at risk of losing your possessions and (in worst case scenarios) you may even lose your home. Evidence will need to be provided to support your application to change terms, proving your reduced income and demonstrating your expenditure on necessaries. If you state a figure that you can afford to pay and the other party agrees, then you must continue making payments at the reduced amount. If you cannot come to terms with your creditor, then the court will decide how much you should pay based on the information you have given them.

If, after having your CCJ terms changed, you find that you are still unable to meet the payments, then it is vital that you return to court as soon as possible. At this point another meeting between your creditor, yourself and a judge will be arranged to discuss what you will reasonably be able to afford. Applications for changes to terms may require you to fill out more forms and paperwork, and you are likely to incur additional court fees, but these are necessary evils if you want to minimise the repercussions. You may also be able to ask the court to freeze your CCJ until such a time as you can afford to repay it, though this will depend entirely on your situation and is decided at the judge’s discretion.

Getting specialist home insurance with a record of CCJs can be difficult, but it is not impossible. Many mainstream insurers are known to have declined home insurance for people with CCJs, but if you try to get it without informing your insurer of your CCJs then you are likely to have your home insurance claim rejected should you need to make one down the line. There are a small number of insurers who specialise in providing non-standard home insurance to people in difficult situations. You might need to do a little more research to find them, but it is worth the effort when compared to the alternative of going without insurance altogether.

When it comes to renewing your home insurance, the thought of having to fill out huge forms or speaking to an insurance company over the telephone can be off-putting, especially if you’re calling a premium rate number. The thought of just renewing your current home insurance policy to make your life easier is tempting, but you should think again if you want to save some money. Insurance companies will often offer great deals for new customers as they know that most people don’t bother to shop around and will just stay with the same provider each year.

Other than shopping around to find the best quote, there are other things that you can do to save money on your premiums.

To lower the risk of making a claim, you should protect your home from theft. This can be done by changing the locks to your home if you have lost your keys or have just moved in, as you never know who has access to your home. You should make sure you get an alarm system fitted in your house. Approved burglar alarms can also reduce premiums with some companies. Another idea is to get switch lights for your home, to give the impression that someone is at home when you are away, or even at night time.

Only pay for the insurance cover that you actually need. When purchasing your home insurance, it’s always easy to get talked into buying extras such as 24 hour emergency cover, legal protection, garden cover, accidental damage cover and other add-ons you don’t need. You could also increase your voluntary excess to lower the overall premium.

Don’t be tempted to let your current home insurance automatically renew. In some cases, there is no reward for brand loyalty so it’s worth shopping around to get a better deal.

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*Based on Online independent research by Consumer Intelligence during November 2010.