Posts Tagged ‘misc’
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
“It feels so unjust. You own a property, you let it to someone on the promise of a fair rent, and they don’t pay up. More often than not, you will have a mortgage to pay, and the lender expects its monthly instalments. It feels like the property owner takes all the risks. Surely my insurance broker will be able to find a way to mitigate the risk of arrears with insurance.”
This is something that has become unfortunately frequent in the world of property renting; however, there are insurance policies to cover such situations. Not only will these policies mean that you will have all of your lost money replaced, but the insurance company will use the best of their ability to have the problem tenant evicted.
This kind of insurance for landlords has grown in popularity as the recession has bitten. Rent arrears can come from professionals fallen on hard times, divorced couples, people claiming benefits and trades-people struggling to find enough work. I don’t think that people take on a property with the intention of getting into arrears – well not many people anyway. The problem is that the people who actually own the properties – the landlords – have a right to collect rent.
It is very rare for a landlord to own a property and not actually need the rent. The boom in “buy to let” mortgages has meant that many very normal people have become landlords. These people need their rental income to pay their mortgage and avoid the banks repossessing the property from them. That’s why they are willing to spend a proportion of their rental income on insurance.
There are two key facets of the insurance taken out. First, property owners insure against the lost income from their tenants going into arrears. For a premium, the insurance company will pay the rent if the tenant does not. Some insurers will ask for credit checks to be performed, some will not. Some will insure you even if the tenant is claiming benefits, but many won’t, so take care to buy the right policy.
The second aspect of some insurance policies that you should aim to have included in yours is assurance of having help evicting your tenant if they simply can’t keep payments up. Many landlords do not have the time or the skill to carry this out as efficiently as it should be done. If you are a landlord, you should talk to your insurance broker about the correct insurance policy for your needs.
If you are a property owner and you are looking for some friendly advice on property owners insurance, you should visit Coversure, one of the UK’s best providers of insurance for anything from office insurance to caravan insurance.
Tags: advice, contract, Finance, home, Insurance, landlord, law, legal, letting, misc, property, protection, renting, security Posted in Insurance | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
A man called Chester Cooke was once very excited about an idea he had. He wanted to buy a caravan on the banks of the river Avon on a well-kept, professionally owned and run caravan site with plenty of amenities. However, not being the sort of chap that would buy something like a caravan on impulse, he looked into everything that could possibly go wrong, all the hidden costs and anything that could potentially cost him over and above what he was willing to pay.
Chester then called his broker and explained to him that he was looking for some caravan insurance. His broker then told him that he would be more than happy to find him a quote, and so Chester gave him the details of the caravan such as the size, type and value, as well was where it would be situated.
A few minutes later, the broker called Chester back and said that unfortunately he was not able to find any insurance companies that would offer him insurance, not because of the caravan itself, or even the site that he had chosen, but it was to do with the exact spot that he had chosen. It was right on the bank of river Avon, which had flooded the year before, causing a massive number of insurance claims on the grounds of water damaged property, and so now insurers were very wary about insuring caravans that were right on the water’s edge. This meant that if Chester really wanted the caravan, and he wanted it right there, it would have to be at his own risk.
This was deal breaking news. It was highly likely that the Avon would flood again at sometime in the future and Chester couldn’t afford to take on a caravan without insurance. He asked his broker about these other “normal criteria” of caravan sites that he should look for if he was going ahead with his plan to buy a caravan.
In terms of insurance, the ideal caravan site should be a registered CaSSOA site, this is because these sites have security standards that all caravans must meet. If the caravan is to be placed less formally, for example, on a farm, then the caravan should have its own compound with a defined perimeter. Some insurance providers insist that a caravan site has a minimum number of caravans. A sort of, “safety in numbers” logic. Another thing to look for in a caravan site is a defined boundary that is secure and would not allow uninvited people to come and go as they please.
Chester hadn’t thought that insurance would be such an important consideration when he was buying his caravan. He was grateful that he had a knowledgeable broker who could give him all this education and he was definitely going to check it all out again before finally taking the plunge and buying a caravan. After all, he just wanted to enjoy his caravan and the insurance was only to take the worry out of the ownership.
Caravan insurance is one of the most important factors to take into consideration when considering purchasing a caravan. Coversure are a leading provider of caravan insurance and can offer you advice, or a quote to get your caravan insured
Tags: advice, auto, contract, Finance, holiday, Insurance, law, legal, leisure, misc, protection, security, Travel, vehicle Posted in Insurance | No Comments »
Monday, March 15th, 2010
If you are anything like me, your getting on a bit and you probably think you’ve seen the last of your summer music festivals with sweltering and uncomfortable tents as your only place to sleep. However, if you’re still into your music (I particularly like early 70′s bands like Soft Machine and Caravan) then you could always bring your motorhome (or someone else’s) along to a music festival and enjoy the music and the atmosphere without the rough sleep under canvas. You can listen to Caravan in your caravan!
Many people prefer taking a motorhome with them to festivals rather than the traditional tent camping because with a motorhome you get the best of both worlds, i.e. you get the comforts of home living like a cup of tea in the mornings, a warm, comfy bed to sleep on and most of all, a shower! As well as all this, you also get the atmosphere of the music festival and the thrill of the live music.
Many motorhome owners rent out their motorhomes for just this type of event with most not realising that any such hiring of their motorhome for “hire & reward” purposes will not be covered under their standard motorhome insurance policy.
One of my more distinct memories from last year’s Glastonbury festival was that of a couple happily leaving their motorhome after having had breakfast under the awning, only to return that night to find that one of Glastonbury’s famous monsoons had put so much weight on the awning that all the poles were bent and broken causing the awning to be ruined. This must’ve been around 1000′s worth of damage which would have been completely uninsured if they had hired the motorhome without letting the insurance company know.
If you think you might like to take your motorhome to Glastonbury or a similar festival, or that you might let someone else take it, it is well worth getting it covered for the trip as you really don’t know what might happen.
Best start by letting your friends have it first if you’re not going yourself, especially if you have standard insurance cover. Your local insurance broker can advise you about cover if need be but adding friends or family to an existing insurance policy is definitely the best way to go. This way you can watch the festival from the true comfort of your front room safe in the knowledge that the motorhome that is your pride and joy is being properly looked after and if not, at least you know you have the right insurance. Now where is that old Caravan t-shirt?
If you are on the look out for motorhome insurance then you should visit Coversure, they are among the leading providers of vehicle insurance offering everything from basic car insurance to caravan insurance
Tags: advice, auto, contract, Finance, holiday, Insurance, law, legal, leisure, misc, protection, security, Travel, vehicle Posted in Insurance | No Comments »
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
I read in Insurance Times recently that the financial Ombudsman had decreed that it would, in certain circumstances, back a policyholder against an insurer excluding claims for leaving keys in or near a car. I can’t help but wonder if the same would apply for a motor home. As an insurance broker, I almost feel that this story is not one to publicise.
So the family and I had rather a late night in our motorhome playing cards and so we were all quite tired when we eventually turned in for the night, meaning that the next morning we were already late for our arranged meeting with our friends and fellow motor-homers the Wilsons. Then came the usual morning commotion, the queue for the shower and the breakfast rush, then by the time we were ready to leave our friends had decided to explore the countryside without us.
Then I couldn’t find the keys. We looked everywhere, and in my usual patient and understanding way I first accused every member of the family of hiding them, progressed to accusing them of not helping me to look for them properly and concluded by accepting my son’s version of events that aliens had come from Mars and stolen the keys to my motor home. I went to the cab to get my mobile and call my insurance company for help. I was stranded in the middle of a field with a grumpy family… and it was about to rain.
There in the middle of the cab, sitting next to my phone, were the keys! I couldn’t believe that I’d left the keys to my beloved motorhome in the cab. Being an insurance man I couldn’t help but wonder if my motorhome would have been insured if it had been stolen under those circumstances. And so my mind drifted back to the Insurance Times article.
If my motorhome had been a car the ombudsman would have considered
Location
Was I in a position to deter a thief
Was I recklessly ignoring the risks
Mitigating factors
Whether I knew about the exclusion in the insurance policy
I would like to think that this kind of thinking would have applied to me and my motorhome. If you use an insurance broker there is a much higher chance of finding a comprehensive insurance policy to cover you whatever your situation.
For a class leading service in motorhome insurance contact Coversure. They provide motorhome insurance is a cut above the restand you’ll leave with peace of mind that you need when you’re on your holidays.
Tags: advice, auto, contract, Finance, holiday, Insurance, law, legal, leisure, misc, protection, security, Travel, vehicle Posted in Insurance | No Comments »
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