As a landlord, one of your worst nightmares is that one of your properties catches fire; you have landlord responsibilities after a fire. Your tenants cannot insure a property that is not their own for such occurrences. So, as a landlord it is extremely important to have buildings insurance. Asides this, as a landlord, you can be held responsible for finding alternative accommodation for your tenants after a fire. This includes their property or an adjoining one that has made their own accommodation dangerous. Asides this, there are many different types of insurance that you can take out that will include fire damage. However there is no one specific fire damage insurance available.
Landlord Responsibilities After a Fire : Insuring your Property
There is no one single insurance policy that you can take out for fire damage. There are however insurance policies that you can take out that will cover the cost of repairs after a fire. When taking out this type of insurance, you must remember that your properties must all have up to date gas safety certificates. All wiring must all be up to date. If a property within your portfolio catches fire due to a faulty boiler that did not have an up to date safety certificate, tyou will not be covered.
Buildings insurance can be used for rebuilding a property. To replace the contents of your property, you will need to have taken out contents insurance. As you are the owner and not the tenant, your insurance will be used to cover their contents and a claim made by you will replace items damaged by fire.
Landlord Responsibilities After a Fire : Commercial Properties
If your property is commercial, then you can also take out additional insurance that will cover your stock. As a tradesperson, this type of insurance will cover stock that was damaged by the fire.
You may also consider taking out a business interruption insurance policy. This type of insurance will cover for loss of income for you after the event of a fire. This type of insurance will however only be useful if you also have a buildings insurance that will cover the damage to your property.
The exact coverage you can expect from your insurance will depend on the type of policies you take out. For example, your building insurance should cover the repairs to your property. Stock insurance will cover stock that was in the premise when the fire broke out.
You must however firstly insure that you have in place all the fire extinguishers, fire doors, and smoke alarms in your property that are required by law as a landlord. If it is deemed that the fire could have been prevented and that the fire was caused by negligence on your part, no amount of insurance will help you.
Landlord Responsibilities After a Fire : Conclusion
To ensure that all your properties have the correct fire safety precautions in place, we suggest you use the services of a property management team. With the best company provided for you by BBN, your property will be safe, maintained, and in the event of a fire, your insurance policies will cover you.