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Landlord insurance for student houses Landlord insurance for student houses

Buildings & owners' liability cover
Cover for malicious damage by tenants
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Why do landlord's need insurance for student houses?

With roughly 30% of students in the UK living in private rented accommodation, the student housing market for landlords is significant, and one that comes with its own unique set of risks.

Superscript offers landlord insurance for residential properties that can offer enhanced cover for student tenancies, including cover for malicious damage caused by your young, excitable academic occupants.

  • Protect your student property against a range of risks
  • Can cover malicious damage by student tenants
  • Buildings, fixtures and fittings and property owners' liability cover
  • Up to 17.5% discount for multiple properties
  • Optional cover for landlords' contents, rental income and more
  • Amend your policy anytime, with no fees

Be quote confident

We're big on fairness. So if you find a lower price for a comparable quote, we won't just match it – we'll go one better and beat it.

So even better than apples to apples, apples to better apples. We're talking Galas to Braeburns.

As you'd expect, T&Cs apply.

What does landlord insurance for student houses cover?

Every student house share is different, but there are certain core covers that just make sense if you're letting out your property to full-time students. Here are the essential covers that we include in every policy:

Buildings cover

This covers the cost of repairing accidental or malicious damage to the building, including:

  • Clearing or repairing damaged drains, gutters or sewers
  • Damage to cables and underground pipes
  • Fire, flood and subsidence damage
  • Repairing damage caused by a water leak

We can cover the cost of alternative accommodation for your student tenants if the property becomes uninhabitable (up to 24 months) at 20% of the building's rebuild value.

Fixtures and fittings cover

As the landlord, you will be responsible for maintaining the fixtures and fittings within your property and these elements – such as light fittings, toilets and radiators – can easily become damaged in student accommodation.

You'll be covered for the repair or replacement costs of damaged fixtures and fitting, including:

  • Breakage of fixed glass and fixed mirrors
  • Damage caused by the illegal cultivation of drugs
  • Theft of the building's fabric (eg. roof tiles or insulation)
  • Damage to electrical sockets or light fittings

Crucially, we can cover malicious damage of the fixtures and fittings in your property by your student tenants, with a £2,500 excess.

Property owners' liability

This can cover the compensation and legal costs (between £1 million and £10 million) if either a tenant or member of the public sustains an injury at your property because of an issue that you are responsible for.

This includes legal costs (up to £1 million) for any alleged breaches of health and safety, consumer protection or food standards legislation.

Plus, it covers your legal costs (up to £1 million) in connection to defense against accusations of:

  • Manslaughter
  • Corporate manslaughter
  • Corporate homicide
  • Culpable homicide defence

Unfortunately, we cannot cover any legal liability arising from the exposure to, or presence of, asbestos.

Additional covers

To give you extra protection, we offer four additional covers to owners of student properties:

Rental income

If your student property becomes damaged to the point that it is uninhabitable, the rental income you would have been paid is covered while the property cannot be occupied, meaning you would not be left out of pocket after an event such as a fire, flood or serious malicious damage.

Your rental income can be covered for a period of up to 24 months

Landlords' contents

Most students live in fully furnished properties and this covers the value of all of the items in the rental property that belong to the landlord (such as a washing machine, fridge, desk, or bed) against accidental and malicious damage, up to a limit of £75,000.

Please note, the excess for malicious damage in student properties is £2,500.

Employers' liability

This is a legal requirement for most UK landlords that employ full-time, part-time or contract staff (such as an admin assistant, handyman or property manager).

If you do employ anyone in connection to your rental property, it covers your liability to pay compensation and legal costs in relation to work-related sickness or injury to an employee.

Terrorism

This covers the costs to repair damage to your property, and can cover certain financial losses, specifically in the event of an act of terrorism.

This additional cover extends your buildings, rental income and landlord’s contents covers to include damages and losses as a result of an act of terrorism, which would otherwise be excluded.

What isn't covered by landlords' insurance?

We'd love to be able to cover every situation a landlord might encounter but, as with all insurance policies, there are some things we cannot cover, including:

  • Any property that is let out to a local authority with an unknown occupant
  • Mansion blocks or the flats contained within them
  • Homes that are unoccupied for more than six months of the year
  • HMOs with more than five tenancy agreements or any tenancy agreements of less than 180 days
  • Any damage which results from acts of fraud or dishonesty by you or your employees
  • Any costs associated with damage caused by the property being used for illegal activities, other than damage caused by the illegal cultivation of drugs
  • Any liability arising from exposure to, or the presence of, asbestos
  • Any works of art valued at greater than £1,000 or any jewellery, watches, fur or precious metal or stone under landlord's contents cover

Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.

Enjoy a multi-property discount

Looking to insure a portfolio of up to 10 properties? We like to reward landlords who insure all their properties under one policy.

You can get a discount of up to 17.5% off your total premium for residential properties.

There's no requirement to have all of the same additional covers for each property, so you can build a personalised policy that's built around what each of your properties actually needs, and then enjoy a discount for doing so.

What if my property isn't student accommodation?

Are you looking to get landlords' insurance for properties that are not occupied by students? Fear not, we cover all sorts of landlords:

Do you need an HMO license for student properties?

Most private student properties are classed as houses in multiple occupation (HMO), which is defined as any rental property let by three or more people who are not from one 'household' (such as a family), but share communal facilities like a kitchen and bathroom.

If your student property is an HMO, then in order for your landlords' insurance to be valid, you'll need to hold any HMO licenses required by your local authority.

Crucially, not all HMOs require a license and there are two main types of license to be aware of:

  • Mandatory HMO license - Any rental property let out to five or more people from more than one household that share communal facilities requires a mandatory license.
  • Additional HMO license - Some smaller rental properties let to three or more people from more than one household require an additional license, depending on the local authority.

Each local authority will have its own rules around additional HMO licensing, so it's important to check your requirements with you local council.

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How do insurance claims work?

The below is a good guide to the process and timescales you can expect when you need to make a claim under your policy.

If you’re ever unsure whether you can or should claim, it’s best to get in touch and we can let you know.

1

Notify us of the claim

Contact us by email at claims@gosuperscript.com, by 24/7 freephone on 0800 772 3059 or by logging in to your customer portal.

Ideally this should be done as soon as possible and within 30 days of you becoming aware of anything which you think may be covered by your insurance.

A good indicator of whether or not to let us know is if there’s an issue which may require a payment to be made on your behalf.

2

We'll get on the case

We’ll acknowledge your claim within 24 hours, and sometimes in as little as 30 minutes! This means you’ll receive email confirmation of your claims reference and contact information should you need to speak to us.

We will then reach out to you within 48 hours to request any extra information we need to progress your claim.

We’ll keep you updated on the next steps as the claim progresses.

3

A decision is made

We’ll let you know if your claim is successful or not. If your claim isn’t covered, we will always try to point you in the right direction and support you as best we can in getting back to normal.

Read about the most common reasons claims aren't paid.

If your claim is successful, once we have all the documents we need, we will aim to settle claims such as accidental damage, theft and lost equipment within five working days.

Landlord insurance for student houses FAQs

How much does residential landlord insurance cost?

The price of your policy could vary depending on how many properties are covered, their location and a number of other factors, including the value of your contents and the rebuild cost of your property.

Is landlord insurance compulsory for landlords of student properties?

Landlord insurance is not a legal requirement but this cover can protect you against a significant range of exposures and is often a condition for getting a mortgage approved for a buy-to-let student property.

With some limited exceptions (such as employing a family member), if you employ anyone in connection with your rental property, you are legally required to have employers' liability insurance.

What types of student properties does residential landlord insurance cover?

Our landlord insurance for student lets includes cover for a range of different types of rental property, including apartments, flats and houses.

These can either be properties where tenants are on a single joint tenancy agreement, or up to five separate individual tenancy agreements.

Can I get landlord insurance if my student property is temporarily unoccupied?

Yes, your landlords' cover is valid even if your property is unoccupied for a period of up to 45 consecutive days.

However, if the property is unoccupied for longer than that, there are certain things you must do for your policy to remain valid, including, but not limited to:

  • You must let us know as soon as the property becomes unoccupied for longer than 45 days
  • The property must be inspected both internally and externally at least once a week, with a written report of the inspection
  • All refuse and waste must be regularly removed
  • The property must be adequately secured and letterboxes sealed
  • Gas, water and electricity supplies must be turned off at the mains
  • All damage must be rectified immediately
  • All water systems must be drained between 1st October and 31st March

We reserve the right to cancel a policy if your property is unoccupied for more than 45 consecutive days.

What excess will I pay?

The amount of excess you will be required to pay depends on what kind of insured event has occurred. Your excesses include:

  • Fire, lightning, explosion, aircraft, or earthquake - no excess
  • Damage caused by flood - minimum excess £300
  • Malicious damage and theft by tenants - £2,500
  • All other insured damage (where an excess applies) - minimum excess £250
  • Subsidence - minimum excess £1,000
  • Property owners' liability - £200

Can I insure multiple properties?

Yes, you are able to insure a portfolio of up to 10 properties on one policy, and enjoy a multi-property discount of up to 17.5%. With student houses classed as HMOs, each property can have up to five separate tenancy agreements within each house and we can cover a portfolio that includes a mixture of joint tenancy and single tenancy properties.

Can I insure commercial units at the same time as my student properties?

Yes, you can insure commercial units as well as residential student properties on the same policy. For instance, if you own a student flat with a shop or cafe unit on the ground floor. The maximum number of properties allowed on a single policy is 10.

What if I need to change or cancel my policy?

You can change your policy anytime, but we need 30 days' notice if you'd like cancel.

Am I covered in the event of a terrorist incident?

Our landlords' insurance, like most insurance policies, contains a 'terrorism exclusion' meaning that you'll not automatically be covered for the cost of damage to your property or financial loss in the event of a terrorist incident.

However, you can opt to add terrorism cover to your policy which means that the cost to repair damage to your property, certain financial losses and your property owners' liability are covered even in the event of a terrorist incident.

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