Landlord Insurance

Usually not, and it can be worse than that. House policies are written on the basis that the owner lives in the home. Renting it out without telling your insurer can affect whether a claim is paid at all, quite apart from the tenant-related risks a house policy was never designed to cover. Tell your insurer the property is tenanted, and arrange cover written for that.

There are two different things and it pays to know which you have. The first covers rent while the property is uninhabitable after an insured event such as a fire or a flood. The second, often called rent default, covers rent when a tenant stops paying or abandons the property. The second is frequently an optional add-on rather than part of the standard policy.

Most landlord policies include a limit for testing and decontamination, and the limits differ between insurers. The condition that catches people out is the baseline test: many insurers expect a pre-tenancy screening result, because without one there is no way to show the contamination happened during the tenancy. A policy can be perfectly good and still pay nothing if that step was skipped, so it is worth getting the process right before you need it.

That is exactly what the tenant damage section is for, but check how your wording is framed. Policies differ on whether they cover deliberate and malicious damage or only accidental damage, whether damage by the tenant's guests is included, and what limit applies per event. These are the details that decide a claim, and they are the ones we read for you.

It depends on the property's location, construction, value and the level of cover, and the range across the market is wide. Premium alone is a poor way to choose, because the cheaper policy is often the one with lower tenant damage and meth limits. We will compare like for like and show you where the differences actually sit.

Yes. Multiple properties can often be written under one programme, which is simpler to manage and can be better value than separate policies. Ownership through a trust or a company is common and straightforward to arrange, provided the policy is set up in the correct name - getting that wrong is an avoidable problem at claim time.

No - quotes are free and there's no obligation. We're paid by the insurers we place cover with; our full fee disclosure is on the disclosures page.

It depends on your specific situation, so the fastest way to a real number is to request a quote or give us a call - we'll tailor it to you and explain the trade-offs.

For straightforward cover we can often sort it the same day. More complex programmes take a little longer, but we'll keep things moving and keep you in the loop.

We're based in Hastings and look after clients right across Hawke's Bay and around New Zealand.

You call us, not a call centre. We guide you through the process, check the paperwork, negotiate the wording and advocate for a fair outcome - that's the real value of having a broker in your corner.