Do you have Landlord Insurance?
- Thread starter jim1964
- Start date
Did all that. Different area, one rents $380, the other $540. Same quote.
I've got a decent sized portfolio & carry LL insurance on everything. BUT I have different insurance depending on the property. Properties where I perceive there is less risk I have an all-in-one type where it covers LL as well as building and the cost isn't much more than building alone.
In my ex-housies, I have EBM or Terri Sheer and pay more for it. I've had to make a few claims, so the cost is definitely worthwhile.
I find it interesting all the posters that don't have it, yet pay for private health.
We don't have private health, but are happy to pay extra if we need to, in order to get the care required. For instance, I had a hip replacement. I was going to just pay for it, but the specialist talked me out of it. He said that I'd be better off waiting, if I wasn't in too much pain, as he'd still be the one doing it.
Did my time, got it done. No money out of pocket at all.
In my ex-housies, I have EBM or Terri Sheer and pay more for it. I've had to make a few claims, so the cost is definitely worthwhile.
I find it interesting all the posters that don't have it, yet pay for private health.
We don't have private health, but are happy to pay extra if we need to, in order to get the care required. For instance, I had a hip replacement. I was going to just pay for it, but the specialist talked me out of it. He said that I'd be better off waiting, if I wasn't in too much pain, as he'd still be the one doing it.
Did my time, got it done. No money out of pocket at all.
Is it really though? Roughly how much would you pay each year across your whole portfolio vs how much you have had to claim in the past 10 years?
Even with 10x properties at $300 a pop that is $3000 a year x 10 years = 30k.
A few tenants do a runner in that time and cause some damage? What would you be up for? 15k perhaps? Still not worth it.
I've got considerably more than 10 properties, but I don't spend $300 on each of them. Like I said, I pick & choose which ones get it.
I also don't claim on all things claimable, as I'm aware of the re-percussions of claiming on many minor items.
On the ones where I do spend the full amount, one property has been claimed upon twice. Not just unpaid rent, but lots of damage as well. Probably at least $12k in that one place. Current tenants have been given notice & there will probably be another claim going in.
Another one which has now been sold, we claimed around $5k. A third one has a long term grotty tenant in it. I'm surprised she's still there, because we've upped the rent to well above market rates (would prefer her gone), but these days she pays up pronto. I'd definitely NEVER be without insurance with her, but the timing isn't right at the moment to force her out.
Another property has 2 x 3bedders on the one block. We've got LL on the one at the rear, but the el-cheapo option for the front one. The reason being is that the mother lives in the front & keeps the place spotless & pays rent promptly. The son lives in the back & is grotty & always late with rent. The good news is that if the mother finds out he's behind in rent, he gets a rocket from her & it's paid, but he just isn't the same calibre tenant as his mother.
Another thing to consider is the location of the properties. If they are interstate, or a long distance from home, then I'm happier to pay more than I am for something local, where Hubby can just rock on up & fix things at a low cost.
So...yes, you are right, it is a large cost when you've got a large portfolio, but we manage that cost as best as we can.
I have insurance but never claimed.
When you apply for new insurance - car, house they ask - "have you made any claims in last xxx years".
The minor repairs are tax deductable - right?
Any suggestions on when to/not to claim please.
I can't tell if you're serious or not? I think you may find for some people the reason for having private health insurance may be more than just getting to jump the line for optional operations....
As for the insurance debate - I currently utilise landlord insurance, but I am serious considering dropping it. If it is a cost that I can absorb without sending me to the wall, it is very tempting to just wear the costs when they do come up.
I've had a couple of events this year that could have been claimable; however I opted not to as I decided that I didn't want to risk the impact on the future premiums across the range of insurances I carry. I will obviously continue with insurance for the risks that I can't wear myself (ie the whole house burning down).
Regarding the cost of landlord insurance - my experiance with EBM is that the landlord component doesnt appear to change from suburb to suburb & they definately don't take into account the weekly rent (as the only question they ask is if the weekly rent is <$1000).
Once bitten twice shy i once heard someone tell me.I am guessing here you have never had a home trashed or dodgy tenants rake up huge debts in your name.
What's a huge debt?
To be honest I think it all comes down to how much in costs you're happy to absorb when an event does occur. And then you insure based on that level (and likewise set your excesses accordingly). Its the same as when people decide not to insure their car anymore because its not worth very much and if they crash it they don't care - two people will likely have very different definitions of at what stage their car isn't worth insuring anymore (most likely depending on their personal tolerance for risk & their personal circumstances).
The other side of the arguement is definately once you get to a certain level with insurance, the pure size of the combined premiums would be a very healthy emergency fund, for when something does happen.
I guess any debt which leaves you out of pocket could be deemed serious.Seriously! Last time I checked, a hip replacement is not an optional operation.
The choice (by us) on whether or not to have health insurance started years ago, before we could afford it. But looking forward, I still see no real need for it. As we are over 50, it is quite expensive for a couple. Then add the 'gap' when you need something done!
No, thankyou. I'll self insure on this & pay if/when needed. My experience with my hip was (backed by my specialist), that I still get my choice of specialist, I was in the same hospital, getting the same care I would have gotten, should I have paid for it & gone private (Hawksbury Private Hospital). The only difference was that I had to wait longer, which I was prepared to do. If at any stage I decided that I didn't want to wait, I could have coughed up the cash & had it done when I wanted to.
We don't have LL insurance but we do have some building insurance policies that have some cover included.
We have never made a claim on any home insurance apart for collision claims and in all cases we knew that culprits who caused the damage.
If I was to have LL insurance on all my properties it would cost in excess of $16k pa.
The majority of my tenants are on periodic leases and our average number of years of occupancy for a tenant is well over 8 years.
All our properties are in Sydney (apart from the USA properties which are outside of this discussion) and we do all the R&M ourselves.
All up I am well ahead by $250k on any claims that I would have made if I had LL insurance, that is over the last 15+ years.
But we do have private health insurance. This is solely because my wife insists that we have it. This came about many years ago when we didn't have private health insurance and one of the kids had to wait for medical attention. She wasn't happy and put her foot down.
Cheers
PS How does a tenant run up a huge bill in the LL name? Leave the tap running. Unlikely to be covered I would guess. Now if you are talking the USA, well that's a different matter. HOA's (strata's can fine you for all sorts of 'infringement' that the tenant is guilty of and the owner is ultimately liable. These penalties are levied on the daily basis until the infringement is resolved. Ouch.
We have never made a claim on any home insurance apart for collision claims and in all cases we knew that culprits who caused the damage.
If I was to have LL insurance on all my properties it would cost in excess of $16k pa.
The majority of my tenants are on periodic leases and our average number of years of occupancy for a tenant is well over 8 years.
All our properties are in Sydney (apart from the USA properties which are outside of this discussion) and we do all the R&M ourselves.
All up I am well ahead by $250k on any claims that I would have made if I had LL insurance, that is over the last 15+ years.
But we do have private health insurance. This is solely because my wife insists that we have it. This came about many years ago when we didn't have private health insurance and one of the kids had to wait for medical attention. She wasn't happy and put her foot down.
Cheers
PS How does a tenant run up a huge bill in the LL name? Leave the tap running. Unlikely to be covered I would guess. Now if you are talking the USA, well that's a different matter. HOA's (strata's can fine you for all sorts of 'infringement' that the tenant is guilty of and the owner is ultimately liable. These penalties are levied on the daily basis until the infringement is resolved. Ouch.
Apologies Skater - I was alluding to the fact that many people who have health insurance, while avoiding other forms of insurance would be doing it purely for tax reasons (rather than to be able to make claims).
