Landlord legal insurance
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need landlord legal expenses insurance?
If you’re a landlord who’s been burned by a tenancy dispute or legal proceedings, you’ll know the drain this can put on your time, energy and finances. Landlord legal insurance is designed to cover off your legal risks checklist – from eviction costs and repossession to property damage and squatter cases, we provide £50,000 in cover.
- £50,000 landlord legal expenses insurance, including eviction costs
- repossession, property damage, squatter eviction and rent recovery covered
- legal advice helpline access, if you need guidance before taking action
What does landlord legal insurance cover?
Landlord legal cover insures you for up to £50,000 in legal costs relating to a property or tenancy dispute – typically for things like damage to your property beyond the deposit value, eviction costs and unpaid rent. Landlord insurance legal cover also comes with access to a legal advice helpline, if you’re preparing to take action but need a steer before starting proceedings.
Repossession
In case you’re having trouble getting your tenants to leave the property.
Property damage
In case your tenant or their guests damage your property.
Eviction of squatters
In case someone occupies your property without permission.
Rent recovery
In case your tenants don’t keep up their rental payments.
Repossession
In case you’re having trouble getting your tenants to leave the property.
What's repossession cover?
Cover if you’re trying to legally take possession of your property, let under an assured shorthold tenancy, short assured tenancy or assured tenancy agreement.
For example:
- your tenants stop paying rent and you need to evict them, in order to have control of the property and get it ready for re-listing
- during a routine inspection you discover serious damage to your property, including expensive newly-fitted appliances, and need to regain possession
What you’ll need additional cover for
- an empty property due to fluctuations in the rental market or your own renovation work
Property damage
In case your tenant or their guests damage your property.
What does property damage cover?
- negotiation of your legal rights, following physical and substantial damage to your property (beyond any acceptable wear and tear)
- damage must exceed £1,000 (anything less than this is often covered by your tenant’s deposit)
When would I need to make a claim for property damage?
- you’re planning to move back into your property after renting it out for 18 months, but your tenants have caused severe damage. Work is required before you can move in, and you’ll need to pay unexpected storage costs
- during a routine inspection you find that your tenants have damaged some expensive kitchen appliances beyond repair, which will need replacing
Eviction of squatters
In case someone occupies your property without permission.
What is ‘squatting’?
Occasionally, someone may move into your property illegally – we refer to this as ‘squatting’. They will usually enter and occupy the property without any previous permission. A tenant who has been served notice but hasn't left is not a squatter, because at some point they did have the legal right to be there.
Can you insure against squatters?
As part of your landlord insurance with legal cover, we’ll negotiate your legal right to evict anyone who isn’t your tenant or ex-tenant, and who doesn’t have your permission to be on the property.
In England, Wales and Scotland squatting is a criminal offence, and you must contact the police in the first instance, before taking legal action or making a claim.
For example:
- a property you’ve been renovating is ready to go onto the rental market, but you get a call from a neighbour letting you know that squatters have been seen on the property. You visit and ask them to leave, but they refuse.
Rent recovery
In case your tenants don’t keep up their rental payments.
What's rent recovery insurance?
If you’ve set up a landlord insurance policy with us which includes tenant default insurance, this cover can help you claim up to £50,000 rental indemnity across a 12 month rental payment period. If you don't have tenant default insurance, you'll only be able to claim for the legal costs associated with an eviction.
Remember, you’ll need to add tenant default cover when building your policy, and serve an eviction notice to your tenants before making a claim.
For example:
- your tenants miss a few months of payments and are avoiding your calls, so you decide to serve an eviction notice and recover the unpaid rent using your tenant default insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does landlord legal cover cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £3.29 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
How we work out example prices: Prices are based on payment over 12 months as of 17/11/2022 and are inclusive of Insurance Premium Tax (IPT). If you pay in a lump sum or by Direct Debit, extra fees may apply.
Example landlord legal cover quotes, real prices
£32.36 /month
£287.67 /year
Renting a whole house to a young couple
- Residential
- Semi-detached house
- 3 bedrooms
- 2 bathrooms
- Built between 1980 and 1989
- Less than 1 year
- Occupied
- Based in Leicester
Landlord buildings
£200,001 to £250,000
Legal expenses
£50,000
Property owners' liability
£2,000,000
£70.78 /month
£629.18 /year
Renting a flat to a couple
- Residential
- Individual flat in purpose built block or building
- 1 bedroom
- 1 bathroom
- Built between 1990 and 2000
- Over 5 years
- Occupied
- Based in Cardiff
Landlord buildings
£250,001 to £300,000
Landlords' contents
£10,001 to £12,500
Tenant default (rent guarantee)
Included
Legal expenses
£50,000
Property owners' liability
£2,000,000
Landlord home emergency cover
Included
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 22/04/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your property. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
How it works
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How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.
£28 million in claims paid out in 2021
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2021
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
Example claim
Having landlord legal insurance through Simply Business has saved property owners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Alex saved more than £2,500
Alex (not her real name) served an eviction notice to her tenant, but discovered extensive property damage, including burn marks and knife damage on the carpet. Her landlord legal expenses insurance covered the property damage costs.
Insurance payout
£2,575.00
Covering the cost of malicious damage
Alex’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Alex’s policy terms
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 315,000 landlord customers now trusting us to provide their insurance.
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Documents arrive today
Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
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24/7 claims
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Landlord insurance legal cover FAQ
Whether you’re new to buying landlord insurance or you’ve been letting your property for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about landlord legal cover. You can also check out our landlord insurance FAQs.
This will depend on your specific circumstances, the type of property you’re renting out, your tenants and various other factors. Right now, our landlord policy prices start from £16.34 per month.
To work this out, we take the highest price from the bottom 10 per cent of all our customers paying in monthly instalments (based on data from 1 1 January - 31 August 2021). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
You aren’t legally required to take out a specific landlord policy, but remember – a conventional home insurance policy won’t cover you for rental activities, and a mortgage lender will usually demand you have specific landlord cover in place, before you let your property.
Popular covers include property owners’ liability and contents insurance, for accidents on your property, plus buildings cover to protect the property itself.
You can add a range of other important covers to your landlord insurance policy, all while keeping it simple with a single premium and a single renewal date. You might consider these covers:
As we’ve outlined above, there’s currently no legal obligation to take out a dedicated landlord insurance policy. However, a home insurance policy won’t cover you for the specific risks you and your tenants face, and a mortgage lender will usually require you to have buy-to-let insurance in place too, before renting out your property.
If you’ve provided furniture and other contents for your tenants – maybe even a TV or art for the walls – your property is known as ‘furnished’, and protection is key for most landlords. You can buy contents insurance as part of your landlord insurance policy, just add it when completing your landlord insurance quote.
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions.
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© Copyright 2023 Simply Business. All Rights Reserved. Simply Business is a trading name of Xbridge Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Registration No: 313348). Xbridge Limited (No: 3967717) has its registered office at 6th Floor, 99 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NG.