Portfolio Insurance

What is portfolio insurance?

When you own multiple properties, the time taken to manage them can be considerable. One way to streamline your time management is to take out portfolio insurance. This allows you to have a single insurance policy instead of multiple ones, safeguarding your properties in a convenient and cost-effective way.

Comprehensive cover is provided across your portfolio, whether this includes residential or commercial properties or a mix of both. You still benefit from the same types of cover that you would if arranging separate landlord insurance policies, except that you combine them in one portfolio insurance policy. You can add and remove properties throughout your policy’s term, giving you the flexibility you need as a portfolio landlord.

With only one policy to arrange instead of several, this saves you a lot of time. There’s only one set of paperwork, one insurance payment and one renewal to deal with each year. Not only that, but it is usually cheaper than arranging individual policies too, making it a cost-effective option.

The types of properties that can be covered by portfolio insurance

Various property types and uses can be covered under the same portfolio insurance policy:

• Residential properties
• Commercial properties
• Mixed-use properties
• Occupied properties
• Unoccupied properties
• Properties with short-term leases
• Different types of tenants, such as working, student, HMO and housing benefit tenants

What does portfolio insurance cover?

The same elements of protection needed for your rental properties under individual insurance policies are provided in a single portfolio insurance policy. The standard inclusions are usually buildings and contents insurance, accidental and malicious damage cover, cover for unoccupancy periods and loss of rent, public and property owner’s liability and cover for pet damage.

Buildings insurance

This covers you against financial loss in the event of damage to or destruction of your property due to unforeseen events. For example, fire damage, storm or flood damage, frozen, burst or leaking pipes, explosions, subsidence, vandalism, theft, fallen trees and vehicle collisions.

Contents insurance

This financially protects any contents you have left in the property. For example, cover for theft of the contents you own and protection against accidental damage to sanitary fittings, glass, etc. Any contents in the property that are owned by the tenants have to be covered under their own insurance policies.

Accidental and malicious damage

Cover is provided for both accidental and malicious damage for various types of tenants. For example, students, working tenants, HMO tenants, housing association tenants and those receiving benefits.

Unoccupancy periods

When the property is left unoccupied between lets, this covers you for a specific number of days, such as 90 or 120 consecutive days.

Loss of rent

An insured event, such as a fire or flood, may cause the property to be temporarily uninhabitable. In this instance, you are covered for the loss of rent suffered while the damage is being repaired.

Public and property owner’s liability

As a landlord, you have a legal responsibility for the safety of your tenants, any visitors to your property as well as neighbours and members of the public. If someone is injured in your property or on its grounds or their property is damaged due to negligence on your part, they can make a claim against you for compensation. This cover provides financial protection should this happen.

Pet damage

If your tenants have pets and they cause damage to your property, this provides cover for the damage caused.

Portfolio insurance add-ons

As well as the standard inclusions for a portfolio insurance policy, there are various add-ons to consider.

Alternative accommodation

If an insured event, such as a flood or fire, causes your property to become uninhabitable, this covers the cost of rehousing your tenants while the repairs are being carried out. Some policies include alternative accommodation cover as a standard inclusion rather than an optional add-on.

Legal expenses

If a legal issue arises, this covers your legal costs. For example, you may have to start legal proceedings against your tenants for damage done to your property, deal with a repossession, serve an eviction notice or dispute some work that was carried out on your property by a third party. Legal expenses cover is often taken out alongside rent guarantee cover.

Rent guarantee

Should your tenants fail to pay the rent, this covers you for any unpaid rent. This safeguards you until your tenants are either in a position to start making payments or they are evicted. In the event that you have to carry out eviction proceedings, the legal costs to do so are covered. This includes the cost of legal advice throughout the eviction process.

Employer’s liability

This covers you in the event an employee makes a claim against you due to an injury or serious illness that has been caused as a result of working for you. You have financial protection for any compensation payable as well as the claimant’s expenses and costs.

This cover only extends to those directly employed by you. For example, you may employ cleaners, gardeners and handymen to look after your rental properties. This doesn’t cover any contractors hired to carry out work on your properties as they should have their own liability cover.

However, be sure to check that a contractor meets HMRC’s guidelines for self-employment. Otherwise, you could find yourself facing fines if you don’t have employer’s liability cover in place and HMRC deems the contractor to be your employee instead of self-employed.

Landlord emergency cover

Emergency situations invariably happen. For example, a boiler breakdown, a blocked drain, a leaking roof, a burst pipe, a pest infestation, a security issue or the failure of the electricity or gas supply. Having landlord emergency cover in place ensures that an emergency issue is dealt with quickly. This prevents further damage to your property and also minimises any impact on your tenants.

With this add-on, you have access to emergency assistance that’s available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A contractor will be dispatched to your property within a certain time frame and the problem will be dealt with swiftly to prevent any further damage.

Usually, this type of protection includes cover for the emergency call-out costs, materials used and labour costs. It can also include alternative accommodation for your tenants if your property is rendered uninhabitable while the repairs are being carried out. With landlord emergency cover, there’s often no excess to pay and no limit to the amount of claims you can make.

Malicious damage or theft by tenants

Cover is provided in the event that your property has been maliciously damaged by your tenants or they have stolen from you.

Personal accident

This provides financial protection if you’ve suffered an accidental injury. It covers you with weekly payments if you’re unable to work as a result of that injury.

Terrorism cover

This provides cover for your property should it be damaged or destroyed as a result of an act of terrorism.

Get expert advice regarding portfolio insurance for your rental properties

When you’re ready to place your rental properties under one insurance policy, give our mortgage and protection brokers a call on 01322 907 000. They can discuss the types of properties you have in your portfolio and your insurance needs as a landlord. They can provide you with detailed information on the types of cover provided and advise you on the inclusions to consider for your particular situation as well as the level of cover needed.

If you prefer, get in touch with us by email at info@trinityfinance.co.uk or send us an enquiry via our contact form. One of our mortgage and protection brokers will reply to you as quickly as possible with further details on the financial protection available for your property portfolio.

The excess payable for portfolio insurance

Excess is usually payable when you make a claim on your portfolio insurance policy. Excess amounts can differ depending on the type of cover included. For example, a standard excess charge of £250 may be payable if claiming on your contents insurance but a higher excess amount may be charged if claiming for subsidence.

The excess will be clearly specified in your policy documents. Some insurance providers offer nil excess options although these policies tend to be more expensive. Others offer different tiers of cover, which have differing excess levels. Generally, the higher the amount of excess you can pay, the cheaper your policy will be.

You need to ensure that you choose a policy with an excess amount that you can afford. Otherwise, you may need to make a claim but be unable to as you cannot afford the excess. Our mortgage and protection brokers will ensure that you’re aware of the excess payable should you need to make a claim.

The benefits of portfolio insurance

There are numerous advantages to placing your rental properties under a single portfolio insurance policy:

• It is cost-effective as portfolio insurance is often cheaper than having separate landlord insurance policies for each property.
• It offers flexibility to suit your needs as a landlord of different properties.
• You have one policy instead of multiple policies and, therefore, only one premium to pay and one renewal date. This saves you time and stress, reducing your workload as an already busy landlord. It also ensures that a renewal isn’t overlooked by mistake due to different renewal dates.
• You can add or remove properties as you wish throughout the life of the policy.
• A mix of both residential and commercial properties can be included in the same policy.
• Different tenant types are covered under the same policy.
• The portfolio insurance policy is tailored to meet your unique needs and circumstances as a landlord of multiple rental properties.
• You have peace of mind that all of your rental properties are financially protected should an unexpected event occur.

Do you need portfolio insurance?

You’ve put a lot of time, money and hard work into your rental properties. As such, it’s important to protect your investments against unforeseen events that could leave you seriously out of pocket otherwise.

Having landlord portfolio insurance also helps you to streamline your management of the properties in the same way that having a portfolio mortgage does. You only have to refer to one set of paperwork instead of several, pay one premium instead of various premiums throughout the year and deal with one renewal date instead of multiple renewal dates.

If you have different types of tenants in your properties, they can all be covered. If you have different types of properties, such as residential, commercial, mixed-use, occupied or unoccupied properties, they can all be insured under the same policy. You can also change the properties you wish to be covered whenever you need to and without restriction. As your circumstances are unique compared with other portfolio landlords, your insurance policy will be created on a bespoke basis.

As such, portfolio insurance provides you with an essential safeguard when dealing with multiple rental properties. It offers a convenient solution when having to insure various properties, which may include different types and different tenant types. Whilst there’s nothing to stop you from having separate landlord insurance policies for each property, placing them under a single portfolio insurance policy instead is definitely worth considering.

Benefit from a single multi-property policy with portfolio insurance

At Trinity Finance, we understand the importance of having insurance cover that caters to your unique requirements. Our mortgage brokers are here to discuss your circumstances, the properties in your portfolio and your insurance requirements in detail. With extensive experience in this field, they can help to ascertain the level of cover you need. That way, you can be sure that you’re not either underinsured or overinsured for your portfolio.

Our brokers will ensure that you’ve made the right choices for your needs when it comes to the policy inclusions and are also fully aware of any exclusions before proceeding. Once you’ve settled on the types and levels of cover you wish to include in your policy, they will compare the prices and terms provided by different insurers.

To put this flexible protection in place, simply give us a call on 01322 907 000. Alternatively, send an email to us at info@trinityfinance.co.uk or an enquiry via our contact form. One of our mortgage and protection brokers will be in touch with you shortly afterwards to arrange your policy. You can then have peace of mind that your properties have the right level of protection should the unexpected happen. As well as arranging your property portfolio insurance, we can also arrange a portfolio mortgage for you. That way, you can benefit from having multiple rental properties under the same mortgage, saving you time, stress and money.