What is landlord insurance?

Landlord insurance is specifically designed to to protect your investment property from loss or damage caused by insured events and loss of rental income, that's why its extremely important to do your due diligence and have a thorough understanding.

We've had one of our highly regarded Property Managers, Lloyd Pieri weigh in his thoughts and answer a few common questions about landlord insurance.

Q. Are all landlord insurance policies the same?

A. "Not all landlord insurance policies are equal. It is generally better to go with a landlord policy from a company that deals specifically with them. Quite often those that are complimentary to an existing building insurance policy or bank mortgage are found lacking when really needed."

Q. What will it cover?

A. "Landlords insurance will offer some protection toward damage of property contents. It is important to note that a lot of building insurance policies (particularly those in strata complexes) consider carpets, floating timber floors, blinds, curtains and anything that is basically not bolted down, as contents and so don’t cover repair or replacement. This can be a real issue and quite expensive if there is a burst pipe causing a flood, electrical fire or the like. Quite often building insurance (it really depends on each policy) won’t cover damage or accidents that a tenant might have or cause."

Q. Why is it important?

A. “Life throws curve balls” and even the best tenants have changes in circumstance (loss of employment, illness, etc.) where by they might fall behind in rent or even suddenly break the lease and leave the property and the current cost of living pressures across the country/globe can lead to a higher liklihood of rent defult. Insurance protects against this. The new proposed changes to the Tenancy Act that may allow tenants to keep pets at the property or make cosmetic changes to the property, have potential to lead to repair issues where insurance would be beneficial.

Q. What insurance companies do you reccomend?

A. "The three main insurance companies we use at Centro Estates are; Property Insurance Plus, EBM Insurance and Terri Scheer."