Left in tears and paying thousands of pounds to have the house decently livable again, the landlord said she made sure that everything was fit for the tenant who’s moved out and apparently disappeared.
In another story featured in Channel 5’s programme, Nightmare Tenants: Slum Landlords, an octogenarian, hoping to live-off from the monthly rental of her property is now owed by her tenant, who refuses to pay, a whopping £13,000. Much as the business seems lucrative, such occurrences are enough to turn away prospective landlords. The question is raised however, how does a property owner protect himself or herself from pocket divesting and devastating losses?
Insurance
It’s not just a matter of getting a coverage, but getting the right amount of coverage without busting the coffers, is the order of the day. And to do that, you’d have to do your research based on the kind of tenants you would want to rent your property out to and the kind of coverage you will need. When you’re sure that you’ve covered all your bases in terms of protecting yourself and your property from any damages and lawsuits, start looking into the different kinds of policies and comparing them. If and when you decide to get a policy, paying it outright in one go would save you the extra monthly charges. Also, some policies include free insurance for accidental damage or discounts if you had more than one property that you wanted covered.
Your premiums would depend on several factors:
* Location increases your premium when your property is not in an ideal area.
*Premiums are low when the rebuild value of your property is low.
*The type of tenants you rent out to: students and people who are on benefits call for higher premiums.
*The age of the property that is being insured
*The kind of property being insured
Now, if you are still deliberating whether or not you should get a coverage, take note of the two examples cited in the beginning of this article. The time it takes you to have the property renovated means no income. Tenants who refuse to pay or to move out leaves you with no earnings and a headache of a lawsuit.
A landlord can get all the coverage he or she would need to protect his or her person and property and have all the background checks covered, but at the end of the day, it’s all in the trust that the keys to the property are being handed to people who will take care of it as their own.
