Burst pipes and paperwork

Being a landlord insurance customer is not easy. There are an enormous number of legal and safety checks to undertake, a lot of administration to keep on top of, and, of course, part of the role involves dealing with people, which brings its own complications. In addition, when a pipe bursts or a boiler goes cold, you get the call and need to sort out the problem fast. You will certainly need to set aside several hours a month to deal with administration and problems: one survey found the average was 12 hours a month – that is a day and a half of working time. Of course, much of this work can be done outside office hours, but that means it will eat into your leisure and family time.

Are you right for the role?

Not everyone makes a good landlord insurance customer. You need to be:

• Well organised to deal with all the paperwork.
• Prepared to get your hands dirty doing routine maintenance.
• Fit enough to shift beds and wardrobes.
• Good at dealing with people.
• Able to handle the responsibility regarding the legal regulations that come with the role.
• Equipped with a cool business head.

If this doesn’t sound like you, you probably shouldn’t become a landlord insurance customer, or you need to pay other people to deal with the hassle, which will eat into your income.

Supporting cast

A landlord needs a strong supporting cast of trusted trades people such as a plumber, carpenter and electrician, plus possibly someone to help with administration such as inventories and checking regulations (so you’ll know when your safety certificate expires, for example). Ensure that any tradesmen that you employ have the correct public liability insurance policy in place. A good letting agent should be able to help here. Without such back up, dealing with the inevitable problems can be stressful and expensive.

Also as a landlord you must a let property insurance for your rented building. At Active Insurance we offer fantastic landlords insurance rates for all types for let properties. Give us a call for a free no obligation let property insurance quotation or visit our get an online landlords insurance quote at http://www.insurancedealer.co.uk/property/landlord/