Flooding in Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary – June 09, Have you got your holiday property insured?

There has been a great deal of devastation in the last few days caused by severe flooding in Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary.

Whilst pats of Britain have had very hot weather with temperatures reaching 32 degrees for the Wimbledon tennis, in central Europe there has been exceptionally heavy rainfall.

In northern Austria several villages have been cut off by flooding. In Hungary there has been concern for the levels of water in the upper section of the Danube and in the Czech Republic a state of emergency has been declared in the east of the country following some fatalities.

If you own a holiday home, do make sure that you have sufficient holiday home insurance cover. jml insurance acts as introducer agents to two of the main providers of policies written in English. Intasure and Copeland insurance.

Landlords in Ireland warned about Drug Factories

A report in The Irish Times on the 22nd June has stated that Landlords who own houses in rural area have been urged by Gardai (Irish police) to ensure they are not being used as drug factories.

The warning comes following a Vietnamese last week was convicted of turning a rented house into a cannabis growing factory.

The report said that Son Van Hoaing aged 57 admitted cultivating cannabis plants at Lissacull, Castlerea, Co Roscommon in August 2008.

Gardai found 180 plants inside the house and cannabis herb worth about €124,000. Gardai are now fearing similar factories have been set up around the State. A Garda spokesperson said “The people who rent these houses make sure the rent is paid on time and do nothing in the community which might attract attention”.

As in Britain, landlords should inspect their properties regularly and if they are employing a managing agent instruct them to carry out routine inspections.
When checking a property be on the lookout for:
 Rooms being locked and access barred – ensure you inspect these and if you are suspicious if you are being told someone is asleep in a room still request to see it.
 Lights being left on all day and night and curtains and blinds drawn
 Strong smells of de-odourisers or air fresheners to disguise the smell of drug production.
 Possible rewiring
 High humidity in the property
 Look in sheds and outhouses and garages and the attic area

So if you are letting out your property, take great care.

Have you heard about Landlord's Portfolio Insurance?

This is an insurance product that has been around for a while from those HomeLet insurance people.

It seems that more and more people have several buy to let properties these days. They have one policy that they say can save the Landlord up to 45 per cent!!

Repossessions on Buy-to-Let properties are rising but you can protect yourself with specialist cover. That’s because Landlord’s Portfolio insurance covers you for the loss of rent and re-letting costs for up 30% of the amount you’re insured for. So, if you suffer an insured loss which makes one of your properties uninhabitable and your existing tenants have to move out you can still pay your mortgage whilst repairs are carried out.

According to the flyer that has just come in, they could provide the landlord with comprehensive buildings and contents cover for all the properties in their portfolio. They understand that professional landlords change their portfolio regularly, that’s why, with their policy, the Landlord you can add and remove properties at any time. There are no restrictions on properties that are unoccupied for up to 90 days between tenancies and you can insure your contents for up to £60,000.

Homelet know that managing insurance for a portfolio of property can be difficult and time consuming. That’s why they have developed Landlord’s Portfolio insurance. It’s simple. If you’ve got between 2 and 30 properties we could save you time and money.

It could be worthwhile taking a look further. Unfortunately I can't give any advice on the subject as I have never tried getting one of these types of policies before, but you could try going to the HomeLet website. Why not let me know how you get on or let me have your rental experiences by joining the followers on this blog

HomeLet releases a new Tenant's contents insurance product available via jml insurance

jml Property Insurance : Press Release




HomeLet rental insurance have cut the cost of tenants insurance from the 19th June 09 with a new policy that is available via jml insurance.

HomeLet the major Landlord and Tenant insurance provider in the UK is releasing a new Tenant's contents insurance product. The insurance provider has been listening to customer feedback and introduced "Tenant's Contents Insurance +".

The company acknowledges that it is becoming more and more common that tenants share the cost of renting by sharing their home with a friend or colleague. The new policy allows for up to three people to share the same policy as long as they are employed and not a full time student. (HomeLet have other insurance products for the student market).

They have also looked at the minimum cover they offered and have decided to double this cover at no extra cost, They believe that tenants often under estimate the value of their personal items and HomeLet were concerned that they could be under-insured.

The post code lottery was another area they made a thorough review of. If a tenant lived in a certain area the risk could much higher and consequently the tenants pay a lot more for their insurance cover. Their research has revealed that some of the areas that they had classified as "high risk" had been greatly improved and consequently should be in lower risk bandings saving tenants money.

Finally they looked at one of the most important elements for a tenant. The prices in those areas that are still in the higher bandings. HomeLet have realised that they were a little uncompetitive and prospective tenant customers have gone to other providers. So they have updated these areas as well to make them more competitive.

Philip Suter of jml-property-insurance said "We have been a HomeLet agent since 2002 and we are sent copy letters to tenants confirming the cancellation of their insurance, usually because of price and the fact that they have found a cheaper alternative."

"It is so important that tenants make sure their possessions are properly protected in light of a predicted surge in property crime due to the recession and rising levels of unemployment. This new HomeLet tenant insurance product is at a very competitive price and easy to arrange on line via a link from the jml-property-insurance.co.uk website" http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk/

Philip went on to say" Tenants often think that a Landlord's insurance will cover their possessions, unfortunately this is not the case and with so many renters having expensive items like computers, ipods, mobile phones and more, they must make sure that they are properly insured".

John Boyle the Managing Director of HomeLet said "Our new policy - Tenant's Contents Insurance+ is even better value for money than before, it still covers accidental damage to the landlord's contents, buildings, fixtures and fittings up to the value of £2,500 and now there is a higher level of cover for the minimum sum insured which has changed from £2,500 to £5,000".

John went on to say " The new product is ideal for professional people who are sharing as it can cover the policy holder plus two additional tenants".

John Boyle the Managing Director of HomeLet has held positions as National Sales Manager for AMP and Agency Sales Director for AIG in charge of Eastern European Operations and as the Managing Director of HomeLet, is responsible for implementing a business strategy, augmenting senior client relationships and maintaining the company's winning culture. HomeLet is a trading name of Barbon Insurance Group Ltd.

Ends...

Tenants and Renters - Have you got your property insured?

Hi - You might not know this, but your personal property is not covered by your landlord's insurance. So what happens if your lap top gets stolen or your ipod? You have to save up for another or increase your borrowing on those very expensive credit cards.

You might think that insurance is expensive and not worth bothering about. Well it may seem like money down the drain until suddenly something happens and you wished you had taken the advice your letting agent had given you.

It is now normally a requirement of a rental agreement to have your belongings insured. You no accidents often happen, quite often when friends call round. There you are sitting down watching a DVD eating and drinking and one of your friends has left a glass of wine by the sofa. Normal sort of thing to do, however it is not a bare wood floor, but has a nice beige coloured carpet. Someone gets up and the next minute there is a red wine stain on that carpet.

You are moving out in six weeks time, so you can't just leave it as you will be liable for cleaning or a replacement as your Landlord had a very thorough professional independent inventory carried out when you moved in and a similar check out will be carried out!

Accidents happen to the best of us, be it wine or coffe spilling or using the carpet as an ironing board. You can of course get insurance cover for this type of accident and it does not cost a lot.

Talking of insurance costs, the market leader HomeLet is introducing a new tenants insurance policy on Friday 19th June 09. The reason behind this is that have done a lot of research into the market place - your market and they have come up with several conclusions.

1) Firstly, it’s becoming more and more common that tenants share the cost of renting by sharing their home with a friend or colleague. HomeLet will now allow up to three people to share the same policy, as long as they’re employed and not a full-time student.

2) HomeLet also looked at the minimum cover they offered, and they decided to double this at no extra cost! This is because they believe tenants often under-estimate the value of their personal items and we were concerned that they could be under-insured.

3) They also looked at the postcode areas they use to determine the prices. They found that some of the areas we had as being high-risk have been improved and actually should be in lower risk bandings.

4) And finally they looked at their prices in those areas which are still in the higher bandings. They realised they were a little uncompetitive, and that many tenants decided not to buy, so HomeLet has updated these too.

That is all rather good news and jml-property-insurance.co.uk have been HomeLet Premier Agents since 2002. To find out more just go to the jml-property-insurance.co.uk website and follow the links to HomeLet.

From now on, make sure you are properly covered after all, insurance is one essential you can't afford to be without today.

Are you driving to Europe this summer?

That is the question on the latest email flyer from those people at e-car insurance. They go on to say. In these tough times, it's often luxuries that are the first to be cut. Additional costs on a car insurance policy can soon add up, and as a result, they are often not purchased in favour of a more 'bare bones' policy.

If you're planning a driving trip to Europe this summer then why not take advantage of our inclusive 365 day European cover which comes as standard on all annual and Pay As You Go policies. At ecarinsurance.co.uk we also include Legal Expenses and Windscreen Cover on all Comprehensive and Pay As You Go** policies at no additional cost.

They also have "Daily rates on their Short Term policy"

Adding additional drivers to an annual policy can be expensive, especially if they rarely use the car. An ecarinsurance.co.uk Short Term policy can cover up to 4 drivers for any period between 1 and 28 days. This is a great policy for anyone who has a friend or family member wanting to drive their car for a short time during a UK holiday. It is also ideal for test-driving a car, or driving a hire or courtesy car from a garage. Certificates are immediatley available to print and premiums are based on a daily rate. You will have access to extend or amend your policy online at anytime.

Well don't just take my word for it visit their website via this introduction link and drive into summer.

Irish property market might be very quiet but “Estate agents correx boards” have had a lot of use

There are not so many properties selling in Ireland in 2009, however the manufacturers of correx the material normally used for estate agents for sale and sold boards has once again had a new lease of life thanks to the Local and European elections.

The campaign for the Local elections and European elections has been running for several weeks, ending last Friday the 5th June. All posters have to be removed by Saturday 13th June or they will be removed by the local councils and the candidates fined. Apart from these elections there were two parliamentary by elections in Dublin adding to the number of posters on correx material. There is not a lot you can do with the old posters unless you can find a use for the other side and unlike the old plywood boards that agents used, they are no good for adapting as flooring for your attic.

If you are reading this in Ireland, don't forget that you can arrange Landlord Insurance, Travel insurance. Holiday Home insurance and a lot more at www.irishpropertyinsurance.com/