Many of those who are looking to acquire a commercial mortgage have no idea how essential having the right insurance policies can be. We’re not just talking about one policy for everything, you will a handful of different policies to cover every eventuality and the cost of the premiums can soon add up, building, contents, liability, fire, flood to name a few of the main policies.
Obviously there is insurance and then there is insurance. Sure you can unsure your mansion at insurance hypermarket for 20 pence a month, but will this really cover you, give you peace of mind? As a commercial property owner normal insurance policies do not apply. You have third parties involved, employees, office workers and tenants. The risk is higher and for this you need proper commercial insurance. In fact without it you may not be covered!
Seeming as everyone on Britain is vying to be a buy to let landlord, we’ll start with residential property. Buy to let Insurance as it’s commonly known essentially covers all the usual occurrences plus anything that could be put down to a tenant’s lapse, such as leaving the oven or gas on and the building caught fire because of it. Under these circumstance, you as the landlord would be covered under buy to let insurance.
Your insurance may cover these types of mishaps or any type of accident that could affect your property. So if your tenants accidently damage part of the building then your policy could cover the costs associated with repairing the damage!
You will find that building insurance is not an option you can decide to take up or not, it will be a requirement that a mortgage lender will insist on. The property you’re buying is the security against the mortgage loan, so be prepared to factor building insurance costs into any mortgage, be it residential or a commercial mortgage. You don’t want o be losing money twice over having to pay a mortgage on a property while it’s empty because of a fire and then have to pay for the rebuilding/renovation at the same time.
Another issue with commercial landlords is that the property may end up being unoccupied for a certain amount of time if a tenant moves out and before another movies in. So it is important that you have some kind of insurance in place in case this happens. This would ensure that you can afford to pay the commercial mortgage even if you do not have the rental funding coming in and so mortgage lenders are more comfortable and more at ease that there is cover in place to ensure that the commercial mortgage can be paid no matter what.
As many of us will have noticed the UK as a whole has started to become more litigious, in some ways following the USA. Great for solicitors, not so great for those who have to earn a crust and pay insurance policies! Ok there is probably a balance here, no to death traps but taking someone to court for slipping on a wet floor, I don’t know! Anyway, landlords beware; ensure your liabilities are insured. If you have Joe Public wandering around your commercial property make sure you are covered in case Joe Idiot bruises an ankle!
Most lenders do require you to have buildings insurance as a condition of the mortgage, because their only guarantee of the mortgage lending is the property and therefore they need to ensure that the property is covered. If the property burnt down for instance, theirs and your money would be gone so they need cover to make sure it can be rebuilt.
Contents insurance is not a requirement, but strongly advised if your goal is to rent furbished accommodation or property on the market. Contents insurance will cover, damage, theft etc to all furniture and appliances within the property.
There are plant of insurance companies out there and many f them offer landlords insurance. Shopping around is the key plus it is worth joining one of the many landlord networking groups where you ask questions and share experiences. I don’t like paying for insurance, but I don’t like being uninsured more.
Howard O’Gollegos writes for Just Commercial Mortgages the UK’s No.1 site for the latest commercial mortgage rates and commercial property finance news.
