HMO Landlord Insurance

HMO landlord insurance is insurance for landlords who rent houses in multiple occupation. Terms are slightly different to those of a regular landlord insurance policy and you will need to register the property as an HMO in order to get a HMO insurance policy. Thereafter, it’s very similar to a standard landlord insurance policy and can cover property owners' liability, risks to the building and risks posed by tenants.

The lease on HMO insurance properties is different and due to the number of people inhabiting the property, the address must be registered as an HMO residence. HMO insurance presents a considerably higher risk as there are multiple occupants, it requires that the premises must be the occupant’s main place of residence or used by students during term time.

The cost of landlord HMO insurance can vary considerably depending on the size of the building, number and of tenants, and more. Experienced landlords, like those who offer DSS property rental are likely to get a discount on Towergate policies and equally, if you have multiple properties, like a block of flats, we will usually be able to get you a better deal. Speak to the team to find out how we can help.

If one of your HMO tenants were to maliciously damage your property, you would need to have an additional cover in place to insure the damage. If malicious damage by tenants is something you are worried about, just ask your adviser for more information.

We can provide a range of landlords insurance policies, including for residential, commercial, mixed-use and multiple premises.

Read our article to find out which is best for you.

Landlords are responsible for building insurance, contents insurance and public liability insurance. Landlords can also benefit from additional policies such as rent protection, accidental damage and unoccupied property cover.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan, and landlord insurance can provide cover for a wide range of insured perils putting your property at risk. Core cover typically includes loss or damage caused by fire, lightning, aircraft, malicious damage, explosion, escape of water, storm or flood, impact, accidental damage or subsidence.

There are many reasons to protect yourself with landlord insurance, such as peace of mind or to meet contract requirements from banks or building societies specifying insurance cover against a loan or mortgage. In addition to the core insurance perils, property owner policies can include a range of different extensions. These are summarised below.

• Damage caused to landscaped gardens by the emergency services
• Loss of metered water as a result of damage caused by an insured peril
• Disposal of wasp nests
• Unauthorised use of electricity
• Trace and Access
• Damage to the building due to theft or attempted theft

Please note that the exact cover extensions and limits provided do vary between insurers, so it’s important to check the policy wording and speak to your advisor to ensure your demands and needs are fully identified and protected.

While landlord insurance is not a legal requirement, your mortgage lender may require that you do so. Also, the responsibilities in your tenancy agreement may be best served by an insurance agreement, especially to avoid putting your financial future at risk.

The cost of your landlord insurance will depend on many factors. Everything from the type of cover you need,  to the property’s location, construction, occupation and values to be insured.

First, you’ll need to choose between building or contents insurance, or a combined landlord insurance including both buildings and landlord’s contents, before setting your specific levels of cover. The type and level of cover you opt for will have an influence on the cost of your insurance.

The size, style and even the roof of your property will also have an impact on how much you pay for your policy. No matter what kind of property you own, your insurance policy should include protection for the rebuilding costs at today’s prices and associated property owners’ liability. Remember, rebuilding costs can amount to far more than the market value of your property.

If the worst happens and your property is destroyed by a fire, you’ll need to allow for a variety of additional costs, including:

• Debris removal
• Site clearance
• Architects and surveyors’ fees
• Planning permission
• Other legal and professional fees
• The possibility that your VAT status may affect your building sum insured. i.e. do you include or exclude VAT in your rebuilding valuation?

Landlord insurance can cover you for loss of rent receivable while your property is uninhabitable, ensuring you still have money coming in until your tenants can move back in. Its important to consider the length of time it will take to fully rebuild the property and ready for full occupation once again. This period is called the maximum indemnity period, and you should take care when assessing this. The minimum period available for loss of rent is normally 12 months, but we recommend longer periods are arranged for at least 24 months, allow for unexpected delays that often occur. Specialist or listed properties can take even longer to rebuild, so it’s important to seek guidance from your surveyor and insurance advisor.

Your landlord insurance will also be affected by the tenants you’ll be welcoming. For example, if you’re going to be renting the property to a professional couple, you may well find that your cover is cheaper than if you’re planning on letting to a group of students. 

Previous claims and the number of properties you insure will also influence the final cost of your insurance, together with any optional additional covers that you may wish to arrange e.g. home emergency cover.

Loss of rent insurance for HMO landlords is not designed as a rent guarantee. What it will do, is cover periods during which rent cannot be collected due to an ongoing claim on your policy. If damage has occurred to the property due to an insured peril, like a fire, and your tenants cannot inhabit the building while repairs are carried out, we may be able to cover the you for the rent you would have earned during this time. This is up to the value stated on your individual policy so please check your policy wording and speak with the team.

Whilst our online insurance portal offers suitable cover to a large proportion of our landlord customers, we always advise speaking to our advisers directly if you have anything out of the ordinary if you want specific cover for something or want to discuss ways to get cover even cheaper. We can often discuss lowering areas of cover you may not need, or want, or help you source a discount.

As a specialist broker, we pride ourselves on understanding our customers’ needs and finding them a policy that offers the most suitable landlord insurance, at the right price. However, sometimes this is best done over the phone.

Whilst it is not a legal requirement, the risks of not having landlords insurance are significant if something goes wrong. Some mortgage lenders will require that you take out landlords insurance before you invest in a buy to let property, and it can provide peace of mind that your property is protected.

Landlord insurance can cover you if your tenants damage your property, or if they suffer an accident on the premises.

Buy to let insurance can cover a range of tenancy types, including lets for professionals, students, DSS tenants, sub-lets and family lets. When you take out your policy, you may choose to add additional cover options too.

Landlord insurance covers you for similar perils to those covered by a standard home buildings insurance. They are events such as fire, floods, escape of water, subsidence etc. As a landlord you will have additional needs such as cover loss of rent and alternative accommodation.

Other complimentary covers are also available for landlords, including home emergency and landlords legal expenses insurance.

These covers are available via our online quote system or from our team of advisors who will be able to discuss your requirements and find something that suits your needs exactly.

Every landlord is different, and there are a variety of insurance products to choose from, depending on whether you are a commercial or a residential landlord or a mix of both, or if you own a single property or multiple properties.

For a landlord with a property portfolio, we can arrange a single policy to cover all properties. Saving you time on administration with a single renewal date and an one annual premium. It's very flexible, as adjustments can be made at any time to add or delete properties.

A further benefit of most buildings insurance policies is an extension for accidental damage caused to underground services for which you are responsible. For example, should a heavy skip lorry drop a skip on your driveway, accidentally damaging water pipes or cables beneath, you could be liable for any repair costs incurred, if you are unable to recover from the lorry operator. This would be a potential damage claim under your policy subject to the excess applicable (normally £100 but can vary between different policies).

We’ve a range of buildings and contents insurance available to you via our panel with excesses as low as £100. This will cover you for escape of water, accidental damage, fire and more. Malicious damage can also be covered if required.

If your property has a history of subsidence, we can cover you here too. All we ask is that you get your property inspected and provide your engineers report so we can apply the correct cover.

Watch our video below: 

If you need cover for subsidence, we can provide it. However, there is a 'but' – if your property has a history of subsidence we’ll require an inspection of the property to establish the risk of further damage before we provide cover.

All insurers are wary of properties with subsidence, even if it was 10 years ago, but usually we won’t have trouble finding you insurance as long as you can provide the correct paperwork to prove the initial cause has been dealt with and subsequent checks have been made. Speak to us on the phone, or via email, and we can discuss your options with you.

As tenants come in all shapes and circumstances, we’ll go out to our panel and find you a suitable policy. We can provide insurance for all sorts of different tenant types including DSS/DWP tenants and students, professionals, local authority placements and asylum seekers, and our cover also extends to bedsits. We build the cover to suit your needs: many insurers won’t provide cover but we have access to a wide range of insurers and know the insurers that do.

If you require cover for a sub-let you may require a slightly different type of cover and one of our advisers will happily point you in the right direction.

Yes, we specialise in finding insurance policies for landlords with multiple properties. In fact if you have between 1 and 50 properties we can often find you discounts on the policies and the administration fees. By insuring all properties under a single policy, you will have just the one insurance policy on one renewal date and one premium to pay. We can provide a breakdown of the premium so that you can split this amongst your properties.

We can also include any new policies mid-term so you can keep the same renewal date for all your properties in a single portfolio.

Additionally we reward landlords with more than one property and those with a good track record by taking into consideration the number of years of experience. Insuring all your properties under one policy allows you to save on admin fees and receive discounts for every property you add.

As these policies are a little more complex, it’s best to get in touch with us by phone so we can provide efficient and relevant help.

Owning a building without building insurance leaves you very exposed to large potential losses arising from a serious fire, storm or flood. It’s not just the damage to the building that must be considered. What about the loss of rental income you would suffer during the period the property cannot be occupied?

Re-building a property following a large fire can be a complicated and extended matter for a whole variety of reasons. Planning and unexpected delays caused by weather or a shortage of building materials which is very common following the covid pandemic can extend the rebuilding periods. This can run to 24 or 36 months, so it’s very important to take this fully into account. In some listed properties, there can be unexpected archaeological finds whilst excavating foundations which cause additional unexpected delay, due to the historical interest created.  

Taking out landlord insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but most mortgagors for buy-to-let properties will require you to arrange a buildings insurance policy as a protection against amount of the mortgage or bank loan arranged.

Renting out a property comes with its own unique set of risks. Without landlord insurance to protect you, you’re vulnerable to loss of rent and any legal claims from members of the public for accidental bodily injury or damage to their belongings arising at the property. 

Yes. We can cover replacement of locks should your keys be lost or stolen. and damage from an emergency access.

Landlord insurance covers you for similar perils to those covered by a standard home buildings insurance. They are events such as fire, floods, escape of water, subsidence etc. As a landlord you will have additional needs such as cover loss of rent and alternative accommodation.

Other complimentary covers are also available for landlords including Home Emergency and Landlords Legal Expenses insurance

These covers are available via our online quote system or from our team of advisors who will be able to discuss your requirements and find something that suits your needs exactly.

Landlords are responsible for building insurance, contents insurance and public liability insurance. Landlords can also benefit from additional policies such as rent protection, accidental damage and unoccupied property cover.

Buy to let insurance can cover a range of tenancy types, including lets for professionals, students, DSS tenants, sub-lets and family lets. When you take out your policy, you may choose to add additional cover options too.

Yes, you can pay your landlord insurance in instalments. To help you spread the cost of your premiums, we offer a quick and easy direct debit scheme for spreading payment over ten months. Please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page to find out more.

If you would like to know more about our monthly payment option, please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page.