Commercial Property Insurance - a brief overview
What is Commercial Property Insurance?
Commercial Property Insurance is often also known as Landlord Insurance or Property Owners Insurance. It is designed for anyone who makes money by renting out property - whether you rent out a single house, have a portfolio of properties or even a block of flats.
Why buy Commercial Property Insurance?
Commercial Property Insurance offers landlords who rely on the income from their rental property vital cover against potential financial loss. As a landlord you also have legal liabilities that can be covered by Commercial Property Insurance.
If you didn't have appropriate Commercial Property Insurance, consider the financial impact of the following:
- Repairs to your property if the building was damaged
- Replacing contents in your property for the same reason
- Providing alternative accomodation for your tenants if the property is uninhabitable
- Loss of rental income if the property cannot be occupied following damage
- Having to pay compensation for injury to persons caused by the property
Is all Commercial Property Insurance the same?
In most cases, Commercial Property Insurance breaks down into four main areas:
- Damage to property
- Loss of rental income
- Public liability
- Optional extras
This allows you to tailor your Commercial Property Insurance to your needs.
You will find that most Commercial Property Insurance policies include cover for damage to the building for events such as fire and flood as standard - although the amount of cover on offer may vary. So it's important to check that your Commercial Property Insurance provides you with enough cover.
If you want a Commercial Property Insurance policy that covers things like contents, loss of rental income, landlord's liability, legal expenses or even terrorism, you may need to specify these as optional extras on your policy because not all Commercial Property Insurance policies include these as standard.
Choosing Commercial Property Insurance
When buying Commercial Property Insurance you should compare how much cover you are getting as standard. For example, Cornhill Direct Business includes cover for Alternative Accommodation for residential properties as standard.
You should also compare not just the cost but also the quality of cover for any optional extras you need to add to your Commercial Property Insurance policy.