Cover

ONE: You can get buildings cover, contents cover or both. Buildings insurance will be a condition of most mortgages though you should be able to shop around for the lowest premiums. Price comparison services say the policies that lenders offer can be up to a third more expensive than those found on the open market.

On the contents front landlords have several specialist providers to consider and one of them, Letsure, says it is important to look at policies even if you let your property unfurnished. Its policy for unfurnished homes includes up to £5,000 cover for fixtures and fittings, carpets, curtains and kitchen appliances. If you are letting a fully furnished home you can protect up to £40,000 of contents though you do need to read the small print carefully to check what’s covered. Malicious acts or theft by tenants may be excluded for example – and forewarned is forearmed.

Fortunately finding a decent policy at a good price should be easy. Scores of different brokers or insurance agents will find policies, many sourcing plans from big name insurers like Axa, Norwich Union, Royal and SunAlliance and Zurich. You can get policies if you have a single property, or can jointly insure up to several dozen at once.