Landlord insurance vs. home insurance

What’s the difference between landlord insurance and home insurance?

When it comes to rental property insurance, working out what cover you need can seem tricky. In general, a conventional home insurance policy won’t be enough for a landlord. Home insurance won’t cover your rental activities, so for a landlord, dedicated insurance is usually essential.

With Simply Business you can build a flexible landlord insurance policy, choosing from a range of key covers. But what exactly does a landlord policy give you that a home insurance policy can’t? Read on to find out.

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More than a home insurance policy

Conventional home insurance policies aren’t designed to protect rental properties. As a landlord you need a dedicated policy that will give you flexible protection, tailored to the specific risks you face.

Talk to your mortgage provider

First, and perhaps most importantly, if you wish to let your property your mortgage provider is likely to insist that you have a dedicated landlord insurance policy in place. You may be breaking the terms of your mortgage if you fail to notify your lender about your rental, or if you fail to take out a landlord insurance policy, so make sure you’ve checked and taken action.

Why Simply Business?

A good landlord insurance policy will give you the peace of mind that you and your property are well protected. Of course, landlord insurance will protect the building itself – your most important asset. But a policy from Simply Business can also include other crucial covers such as public and property owners’ liability, alternative accommodation costs, glass and locks replacement, and landlords’ contents insurance. You might also consider taking out cover for loss of rent.

Expert advice

Landlord insurance and home insurance: what’s the difference? Watch our director Deborah Reid explain the difference between landlord and homeowners' insurance.

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Cover for legal costs

Landlord insurance can also help to protect you against potential legal costs – protection that a conventional home insurance policy does not offer. Cover of this sort can help to safeguard your financial future.

Account for your employees

Finally, you should remember that if you employ anyone to help out with your rental, you’ll be legally obliged to take out employers’ liability insurance. Failure to do so could result in heavy fines for each day that you’re uninsured.