Loss of rent insurance

Why is landlord loss of rent insurance important?

From storm damage to a flood or fire, landlord loss of rent insurance is designed to protect your rental income, if disaster strikes and your tenants are forced to move out. Or, if you can’t move new tenants in because of the damage, it can cover you for the rent you’re missing out on. It’s a popular cover which you can add to one of our tailored landlord insurance policies.

Loss of rent vs tenant default – loss of rent insurance won’t protect you against your tenants simply defaulting on their rent. Our tenant default insurance is designed to cover this risk (some people also refer to it as rent guarantee insurance).

• expert landlord insurance, with cover for loss of rent and common liabilities
• no excess to pay and fast turnaround – 80 percent of settled claims paid in 24 hours
• trusted by over 900,000 customers for flexible, tailored cover

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Loss of rental income insurance – what’s covered?

Loss of rent insurance is designed to cover your lost rental income, if your property is made uninhabitable because of a crisis like a fire, flood, or storm damage. It can also provide cover if the damage stops you renting your property out to new tenants. It’s different to alternative accommodation insurance, which focuses on the cost of sorting out somewhere for your tenants to stay.

What's an ‘insured event’?

This will be specified in your policy wording, and usually includes a crisis like a fire, flood, or storm, and the damage caused.

For example:

• a fridge fire starts in a flat above your tenants, causing extensive damage to the property. Your tenants are forced to move out, and you need to recover the lost rental income
• your rental property is made uninhabitable during a storm and you need to delay a new tenant’s move-in date, while you carry out repair work

What isn’t covered?

• losses due to a tenant defaulting on their rental payments – you can add tenant default insurance to help cover this risk, when building your policy

How much does loss of rent insurance 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.

How do I choose loss of rent insurance?

Making sure you have the right type and level of insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.

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:

• Landlord insurance
• Commercial landlord insurance
• Buy to let insurance
• Building insurance
• Unoccupied property insurance
• Multi property landlord insurance
• Residential landlord insurance

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.

Landlord loss of rent insurance 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 insurance to cover loss of rent. You can also check out our landlord insurance FAQs.

• What does loss of rent insurance cover?

  If the property you’re letting out becomes uninhabitable because of an insured event – for example a fire, storm, or flood – loss of rent insurance can help cover your lost rental income. It’s designed to kick in if you can’t rent out the property due to one of these specified events and you can’t be paid rent as a result. If your tenant is forced to move into alternative accommodation, they’re still required to pay you rent. You can cover the cost of this with alternative accommodation cover.

• I’m looking for how to claim loss of rental income – what comes first?

  If your property is damaged to the extent that it's uninhabitable, you can notify our claims team at Sedgwick of the issue. During this process, you can make a claim for loss or rent if the property will be uninhabitable for a while. The claims team will then determine whether the property is uninhabitable and if your policy covers loss of rent.

• Does landlord insurance cover loss of rent automatically?

  Some landlord insurance policies include loss of rent as an extension in their policy wording, while others don’t. It depends on your insurer and the details of your policy, so you’ll need to check the wording to see if it’s included automatically.

• What is an insured event?

  An insured event is something that happens based on your existing cover, such as buildings insurance. For example, if you can prove that you’re losing rent due to a buildings insurance claim such as a fire or flood, you would be covered by loss of rent insurance.

• Is landlord insurance required by law?

  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.

  Popular covers include property owners’ liability and contents insurance, for accidents on your property, plus buildings cover to protect the property itself.