Commercial Let Insurance [article from Articleranks]

Commercial Let Insurance

Most of us have bought some form of house insurance at one time or another, but when it comes to insuring a commercial property, the process is entirely different. For starters, commercial properties have so many more uses; a home is used for living in, but any kind of business or trade may be going on at a business premises.

From an insurance perspective, this makes insuring a building used for business, a more specialised prospect which is less likely to fit a one size fits all approach. This has it's advantages, as it means the insurance market for commercial buildings is very wide, so there is room for companies to specialise in one particular area. For instance, one insurer may know the risk associated with a family of trades more intimately than another. This knowledge gives an insurance company the power to accurately estimate and assess a risk, leading to better prices and better cover for a client.

But then, what about the policyholder's point of view? With such a variety across the market, it isn't very clear who does what kind of insurance quotes for commercial property. An affordable premium is only half the battle, knowing where to find it and who offers the best cover is the hard part.

So what can you expect for your money as a commercial let landlord?

The minimum cover for a commercial landlords property insurancepolicy is usually:

• Buildings - damage or re-instatement
• Loss of Rent - usually 20% of the sum insured value
• Property Owner's Liability - normally a minimum of £2,000,000 though occasionally higher.

In addition to these, many insurers offer addons such as legal or emergency help. Where these are offered, the policy wording or summary needs to be read carefully, as such products are not standardised and may vary widely as to what they do actually offer. Sometimes, it's just a legal advice line who can provide generic help for free over the phone and may recommend a proper solicitor for more in depth queries, where the policyholder would have to pay. Or it could be a much more in depth cover, where legal fees and access to qualified solicitors is paid for by the policy. So, two policies offering legal cover may not be directly comparable pricewise.

As for emergency help, the same thing applies. It could just be a 24 hour telephone service where they arrange for an emergency plumber or other contractor to contact you and carry out repairs at your own expense. Or the policy may cover you for a set amount, say up to £750, towards call out and labour charges when a contractor carries out emergency repairs for you. The telephone helpline variety is usually free, and while handy, doesn't really save you anything other than a search through your local yellow pages. As with other things in life, you usually get what you pay for, so the second, contributory service just mentioned, will normally be a small, extra fee on top of any insurance premium.

Other options are sometimes offered too, like:

• Employers' liability
• Loss of keys & replacement locks
• Glass replacement
• Terrorism

Where and what type of property will decide which options are the best value, or worth having at all. In the case of a building being maintained directly by a landlord themselves, employer's liability might not be worth taking.

So how do I go about finding a policy that's right for me?

Commercial properties come in all shapes and sizes, and all sorts of uses, so it takes someone with good experience of the insurance market, to get you the best commercial buildings insurance quotes. This is where using a tried and trusted insurance broker, often pays dividends. They may well have close working relationships with many major insurers, which often leads to gaining their own specialist schemes with discounted rates for certain specialist applications. Examples of these being non standard build properties, unoccupied buildings, and buildings with high risk trades going on inside them. Their value also increases if you need assistance should a claim ever arise.

tags:commercial let insurance,commercial property insurance,business property insurance,business let insurance,property insurance