Pen Underwriting Landlord Insurance
Pen Underwriting is a UK-based managing general agent (MGA) business appointed by insurers to have underwriting authority and be responsible for negotiating policies on their behalf. They offer over 60 products to their clients ranging from commercial to household insurance. In particular, their landlord insurance has six covers that can be used for both occupied and unoccupied properties.
Even better, landlords with claims history and prior bankruptcies are not immediately eliminated from making an application like most other insurance agents, allowing for more inclusivity. Founded in 2015, their core brand values like ‘agility’ and ‘solving’ imitate their commitment to the customers.
If you would like to read more information or learn more about the pricing of business landlord insurance, you can do so here.
What Types of Insurance do Pen Underwriting Offer?
The landlord insurance at Pen Underwriting is made up of six essential covers.
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Building insurance
Building insurance is a form of landlord insurance whereby the property’s infrastructure is financially protected should there be an accident. The most popular forms of accident under the building insurance policy are usually fires, floods, storms, explosions and vandalism, as these are the most common events that damage a building. If this was to happen, Pen Underwriting could insure the building for up to £1 million, although this depends on the property’s value.
This depends on the size, location, age, and material of the building units, as more significant buildings closer to bodies of water are more expensive to insure than smaller ones that are at less risk of flooding; this is because the cost of rebuilding the property from scratch would be more costly.
2. Contents insurance
Contents insurance is similar to buildings insurance, except it safeguards the belongings inside the building instead of the infrastructure. As a result, the whole insurance taken out on this policy is £50,000, significantly less than buildings. Nevertheless, this cover protects important assets inside a property like a furniture and personal possessions, as long as they are insured on the original policy.
A landlord can benefit from this as it would be difficult to find a tenant when the building has no furniture like sofas and chairs to make it more homely. Thus it is of great value to obtain this insurance if the contents are stolen or destroyed by a fire or flood. It should be noted that the contents insured are only those of the landlords and not the tenants.
3. Loss of rent insurance
Loss of rent insurance is helpful for when an unpredictable accident happens, like a fire, which means that the tenants must move out until the repairs of the property finish. In this period, it would be unreasonable for those same tenants to pay rent as they are not living in the property, and there would be a loss of rent.
This form of insurance provides a payout in these circumstances, more specifically for Pen Underwriting up to 25% of the building sum insured, which is the cost of rebuilding the whole property if it was entirely demolished, even including the extra fees of hiring specialist help to remove the remains. The building sum insured is not to be confused with the declared value, which does not consider the increased expenses due to inflation.
4. Alternative accommodation insurance
Alternative accommodation insurance is also insured for 25% of the building sum insured. So, for instance, if a landlord’s single property were insured for £500,000, the alternative accommodation insurance would be a maximum of £125,000. Suppose there was an emergency, for instance. In that case, a pipe explosion that caused water leakage and flooded the property would become uninhabitable.
Due to this, the tenant would have to find alternate living arrangements until the issue was fixed; this could take weeks. With alternative accommodation insurance, the landlord would be compensated by Pen Underwriting, so the tenant’s expenses moving temporarily would be covered. This form of insurance is beneficial in attracting tenants as it is enticing for them to feel safe in the acknowledgement; they would have a place to stay should there be an accident.
5. Accidental damage insurance
Accidental damage insurance would cover the expenses of any reparations to the property if there were an unintentional accident that damaged it. For example, if the toilet seat cracks when a bottle of shampoo falls on it, or a bottle of wine is knocked over and stains the mink carpet red. These are all instances where an unpredictable event occurred, which destroyed a piece of furniture in the property.
However, the general wear and tear of belongings inside are not insured under the policy. Pen Underwriting offers this cover for landlord insurance of occupied properties only, not unoccupied.
6. Trace and access insurance
Trace and access insurance are advantageous when a tenant recognises a leak but cannot identify where it is coming from. A policy like this covers the cost of hiring a plumber to come to the property and find the source of the leak to fix the issue accordingly. If this is called in early, a mass leak can be prevented as the problem would be restored to working order before it got out of hand.
This cover is not usually offered by most insurers and is frequently not deemed necessary; however, this is a dire error on the part of other insurers. Finding the source of a leak is time-consuming and expensive, and disruptive. Without it, the expenses of calling a plumber out to the property, having them identify the cause, rectify the issue and then fix the damage caused whilst repairing the problem can come at a hefty price. Pen Underwriting covers this up to £10,000.
Pen Underwriting Landlord Insurance
In conclusion, Pen Underwriting has landlord insurance for both occupied and unoccupied properties, even if the landlord has multiple claims against them and even convictions. In addition to landlord insurance, they recommend specialist home insurance for property owners who wish to lease out their buildings as temporary rentals like vacations or business trips.
Find out more about the importance of insurance here.
Other useful links about Business Insurance:
Churchill Business Insurance
Hiscox Business Insurance
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