Content insurance for investment property

Hi,

I am shopping around for landlord insurance ATM, and noticed that robbery and theft are not included in landlord insurance. What will happen if someone robbed or damaged the property when tenants are away?

Your responses and recommendations will be highly appreciated.

Thank you

 

Scenario - Burglar comes along. Kicks door down, does something to the carpet and runs away with the TV and laptop.

Building insurance - door repair
Tenants contents insurance - tv and laptop
Landlord insurance - carpet repair, any rent lost in the process, eg if home was inhabitable (probably not in above scenario).

Having building and landlord at the same place saves a bunch of issues as the policies will usually complement each other.

 

Thanks D.T for your reply,

My building insurance is part of strata building insurance. I am wondering what will happen if a burglar damages aircon, curtains or oven? Who will cover these contents if I only have building (part of strata) and landlord insurance.

Thank you

 

Check carefully just what the strata insurance covers. Request a copy of the policy and take the time to read it.

It depends on just what policy has been taken out. Some are very comprehensive, some only cover exterior walls and the basic structure.

Kitchen fitout, bathrooms, built in wardrobes, carpets, flooring, light fittings etc can be grey areas.

We always took out a small building and contents policy to cover any strata property we owned. Then again, hubby was an insurance broker and frequently saw how some strata covers were inadequate and owners left thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Whether home or away (!) the tenant is fully responsible for his/her possessions, unless damage is caused through an event that is held to be your fault (broken pipe, fire resulting from faulty wiring etc). Another grey area - tenant? Strata? You?

Again, having a personal building and contents policy will cover you.
Marg

 

Essentially you should be arranging a landlord insurance policy that will include defined events for the landlords "contents" such as carpets, curtains, blinds etc. An example would be RentCoverUltra which is designed to cover both tenant-related risks as well as the landlords contents, liability and more.

 

Thanks Marg and Brett for your reply.