Covered! I
nsurance. One of the key components of the professional letting agent’s business, protecting the business, its landlords and its tenants. Insurances that are, to differing degrees, mandatory, advisable and desirable. There are hundreds of choices, dozens
of providers, a confusing range of product names and some providers wrap several ‘covers’ into one package. So how do you find the right insurances for your business? Can you make any money out of them? Should you insist that all your landlords and tenants have some level of insurance cover? Should you arrange insurances for your clients… or should they buy them diectly, online? And another thing, some insurance
providers offer a full portfolio of products for agents, their landlords and their tenants; others don’t. Letsure, for example, will arrange everything you could expect – Andrew McMillan, Head of Products & Marketing says it’s the full package, but all available separately, “Landlord’s Buildings and Contents, Portfolio Property Cover, Holiday Homes Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance, Landlord’s Legal Protection, Rent & Legal Protection, Tenants Contents, Tenants Liability Insurance and Home Emergency
The Lettings Insurances Review
The first of a series of four, covering all aspects of insurance for the letting industry.
ANDY WYNNE-JONES HOMELET
A tenant broke his ankle when stepping into a hole. Under his buildings insurance public liability cover, the award of £35,700 was covered.”
Assistance.” Other more recently established insurers are either building their portfolio gradually, like Let Insurance Services who have just launched a completely new product for tenants. It’s a little ironic, but can choosing an
insurance provider be a minefield? PROPERTYdrum reviewed the market leaders’ products and asked, “What is your Unique Selling Point?” In this issue, Part 1 of the review looks
at Landlord’s Buildings Insurances. In our October issue we will take a look at Tenants’ insurances, in November it will be the turn of Rental Warranty/Legal Expenses with that vital adjunct to rental insurances – Referencing and, finally, in December, we’ll explore the choices for Professional Indemnity policies.
The business that we have secured through our letting agent partnerships is our most significant growth area.”
DAVID SCUTT ENDSLEIGH
LANDLOrD’S INSUrANCES The first indication of the potential for confusion is that policies are styled in many different ways, but the basic products are Landlord’s Buildings Insurance, Landlord’s Contents, Landlord’s Legal Expenses and Landlord’s Rent Guarantee. Some insurers also offer Landlord’s Portfolio Insurance, Blocks of Flats and domestic insurances that cover, for example, emergency assistance, utilities, maintenance and boiler repair. The providers included in this section
of the review are: Endsleigh, Paragon Advance, Home &
Legacy, Homelet, Leaseguard, LettingRef. com, Letsure, Let Insurance Services, PropertyRisks and Rentshield. Some are newcomers to the residential
lettings sector, others are long established; Endsleigh is the ‘Grandaddy’ having started selling to the private rented sector in 1965, while Let Insurance Services, Home & Legacy and
LettingRef.com have only moved into the market in the last two/ three years. Homelet opened for business in 1992,
Letsure in 1995, Paragon Advance joined the market in 1996, Leaseguard arrived with the new millennium, PropertyRisks and Rentshield in 2005.
PROPERTYdrum SEPTEMBER 2010 55
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