Contents Insurance

Taking out contents insurance is a good idea as your tenants’ deposits may not be sufficient to pay for any damage that occurs. If you are letting the property unfurnished it is not necessary to take out full contents insurance – only get cover for damage to items such as carpets, blinds and any electrical appliances supplied with the property. This could range from £5,000 to £15,000-worth of cover. Your tenants should insure their own belongings.

For a furnished property you will need full contents insurance, which may need to provide more than twice the amount of cover than when it’s unfurnished. “You are only insuring your own contents, however – the tenants must still insure their own possessions,” says Malcolm Harrison.

If you take out a standard home insurance policy for a buy-to-let property there is likely to be a higher excess, which is often not the case for buildings cover, or you may not be covered at all so verify this. The 30-day limit is also likely to apply to vacant periods and you may not be able to pay an additional premium for the option of accidental damage cover as you would if you were an owner-occupier.