What is landlords insurance?
Landlords insurance may not have crossed your mind, especially if your investment property is an apartment covered by strata or body corporate insurance. But the fact is, owners across the upper north shore need to factor in this extra cover to protect their property investments.
What is landlords insurance?
Landlords insurance covers property owners against three main types of loss:
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Accidental damage from events such as fire or storms.
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Malicious damage to your property by tenants.
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Damage to the items you provide for tenants’ use.
The exact cover you have will depend on your provider, with some offering protection across other areas like legal liability or rent default.
How is landlords insurance different?
Landlords insurance is one type of property insurance that covers specific areas. Here are the three main types of insurance property investors should be familiar with:
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Landlord insurance: Covers your investment property for various forms of damage, liability and default (depending on the provider) along with items in the property you provide for tenants’ use.
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Strata/body corporate insurance: Mandatory insurance that covers common areas such as gardens, lifts, pools and car parks.
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Contents insurance: Covers renter’s possessions from things like fire, theft and accidental breakage (depending on the provider).
Doesn’t strata insurance cover my property?
As many upper north shore investors own apartments that are part of a body corporate, we often meet landlords who assume their property is covered by strata or body corporate insurance. But strata insurance doesn’t cover items such as internal fittings or major appliances and may not protect you against all types of damage, so it’s important to check exactly what your cover provides.
How much cover do I need?
To be totally secure as an investor, you need to make sure your landlord insurance covers the cost of rebuilding your property, as well as the rent lost while the property is vacant.
If you’re an apartment owner, it’s important not to assume that your strata insurance will cover the cost of rebuilding. If in doubt, you can look into purchasing specialist insurance that will cover items that aren’t taken care of by your body corporate.
If you have questions about making the most of your investment property, our experienced team of property managers can help. Don’t hesitate to get in touch today.
