Being a landlord has many benefits. However, in becoming one, you take on a number of challenges when it comes to protecting your property. It goes without saying, insurance is super important when it comes to being a landlord.
Finding the right insurance cover can be a difficult task. Insurance sometimes is not black and white. Having an insurance adviser can be crucial here for making the process simpler and making sure you’re properly protected. If you're a landlord or thinking about having a rental property, read on as we discuss 3 good reasons why you should use an insurance adviser to sort out your landlord insurance.
More obligations as a landlord when it comes to insurance
When you become a landlord, you take on more obligations to protect your property. Not only do you bear the standard risks associated with being a homeowner, but you take on the risks that come with renting your property to tenants. Some of these risks are bound with legislation such as the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019.
This act states that landlords are required to provide a tenancy agreement entailing insurance information, such as whether the property is insured and, if it is, how much the excess is costing. This is because in the event that a tenant causes damage to the property due to negligence, they may have to pay the excess.
Landlords must make it explicitly clear that a copy of the insurance policy is also available to the tenant should they require it.
If the landlord does not give this information or fails to make tenants aware, in writing, within a decent time frame should the information change, then they could be liable up to $500.
Landlords will also be accountable for paying the premiums on policies which will usually cover:
Damage by tenants
Loss of rent
Meth contamination
Landlord contents
However, in order to make claims on these situations, insurers often place obligations on the landlord that they must satisfy such as:
Conducting background checks on chosen tenants
Internal and external inspection of home in monthly intervals
Photographic evidence of inspections
Monitoring rent payments
Regular check-ins
Complying with landlord-related legislation
Can find cover that you would not be able to get yourself and provide cover comparison between direct insurance products
Advisers can also be super useful for landlords as they can connect you to a wider range of insurers (e.g. Ando, NZI and Vero) which tend to have more comprehensive and better suited cover in comparison to direct insurers (e.g. AMI, State and AA).
Advisers also take away the pain of having to research and draw comparisons on your own. They find options for you, and weigh up the benefits of each one based on your needs. A lot of the time when people try to find insurance without an adviser, they tend to find one provider and go through the process without shopping around. We found that shopping around for insurance could save a considerable amount of money in the long run! However, we also understand the prospect of having to shop around for insurance may not sound very riveting…cue the adviser who does it all for you! The table below shows quotes from direct insurers and the significant differences between the prices each one offers for the same property in each city.
Yearly premiums | AA | AMI | Tower |
|---|---|---|---|
Auckland | $1,666.39 | $1,353.39 | $1,581.80 |
Wellington | - | $2,205.76 | $2,403.29 |
Christchurch | $1,690.10 | $1,751.21 | $2,094.43 |
Skill and knowledge of the industry
At its core, the main reason behind why people need an adviser, especially landlords, where insurance can be quite complicated, is because they have knowledge and experience with the industry. When it comes to situations where the stakes are high, you’d typically seek help where possible to help make sense of things and get the best possible outcome. With landlord insurance, where there are so many risks and high potential for things to go wrong, having an adviser support you and take you through the process of getting your insurance sorted and being able to assist in the event of making a claim, will ease any uncertainty and gaps in your decision making, which you may find if you were to try do your insurance alone. They can also point out what is included in your cover, what's not necessary and what you would benefit from having as a landlord, as insurance is not a one-size-fits-all moment.
Here at Quashed, we can connect you with experienced advisers that have helped many landlords compare prices and benefits of different policies. You are also able to use our dashboard to track and store all your insurance policies for each property you own so you can easily find them and send them to tenant.
All in all, having multiple properties can become a nightmare, especially when it comes to managing them all. This is where Quashed is super beneficial for landlords. We provide a dashboard to see all your properties and insurances in one place.
