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Landlord

One investment property or a small portfolio. The building, the things you left in it, the rent you lose when it burns, and the rent you lose when a tenant walks.

Price a rental PDS and TMD
The gap most owners have

Your agent is insured. Your building is not.

Managing agents carry professional indemnity for their own conduct. It does not put a roof back on. Some also sell a rent default product that stops at the rent and never touches the structure.

52

Weeks of rent

Loss of rent runs for up to a year after an insured event, which is roughly what a catastrophe-season rebuild queue actually takes.

$20m

Liability

To tenants, their visitors, and anyone lawfully on the property. The claim that ends a small portfolio is almost never the building claim.

1

Excess per event

Storm takes the roof and ruins the carpet, that is one event and one excess, not a building claim and a contents claim.

What is covered, and what is not

Two clusters: the property itself, and the money it is supposed to produce. Where this page and the PDS differ, the PDS wins.

The building and what you left in it

Covered

  • All the insured events on a home policy: storm, hail, flood, fire, bushfire, cyclone, impact
  • Landlord contents: carpets, blinds, light fittings, whitegoods and window furnishings
  • Fixtures you own inside a tenanted unit, where the body corporate insures only the structure
  • Removal of debris and the professional fees to rebuild to current code
  • Legal liability to tenants and visitors, to $20 million

Not covered

  • A tenant own possessions, which are their business and their renters policy
  • Gradual deterioration, and the normal wear a tenancy produces
  • Damage during a period the property was left unoccupied for more than 90 days without telling us
  • Loss caused by a tenant you knew was in arrears when you renewed and did not disclose

Rent and tenant risk

Covered

  • Loss of rent for up to 52 weeks after an insured event makes the place unliveable
  • Loss of rent where a tenant absconds or is lawfully evicted, to a sub-limit
  • Malicious or intentional damage by a tenant or their guests
  • Theft by a tenant or their guests, where a police report is made
  • Reletting costs and the legal costs of a tribunal or court process
  • Rekeying and replacing locks after a tenancy ends badly

Not covered

  • Rent lost because the market softened, or because the place sat empty between tenancies
  • Rent arrears where there is no written tenancy agreement in place
  • Damage by a tenant where no bond was taken or no condition report exists
  • Properties let for periods under 30 days, which need a short-stay policy instead
Landlord PDS and TMD Owner occupied instead? How a claim runs

The paperwork that decides a tenant claim

Tenant damage and rent default claims turn on four documents. Insurers that ask for them after the fact are not being difficult, they are being consistent. We would rather tell you now.

  1. A written tenancy agreement

    Signed, current, and naming everyone living there. A handshake tenancy is uninsurable for rent default in every state.

  2. A bond, lodged with the right authority

    The RTA in Queensland, NSW Fair Trading, the RTBA in Victoria. Lodged, not held by the agent, and not held by you.

  3. An entry condition report with photographs

    Dated and signed by the tenant. This is the document that separates malicious damage from the wear a three year tenancy produces.

  4. A rent ledger and arrears notices

    Showing what was owed, when it was chased and what notice was issued. Bring these and a rent default claim is usually decided in days.

Landlord questions we get every week

Do I need landlord cover if my agent already has insurance?
Yes. A managing agent professional indemnity policy covers the agent, not you and not your building. Some agents also offer a rent default product, which is narrower than a landlord policy and does not cover the structure at all. If your agent tells you that you are covered, ask them to put in writing what the sum insured on the building is. There will not be one.
What about a unit, where the body corporate insures the building?
Take a landlord contents and liability policy rather than a full building policy. The strata insurance covers the structure and common property, but it stops at the paint. Carpets, blinds, light fittings, the oven, the air conditioner and the internal fixtures you installed are yours, and so is your liability as the owner of the lot.
How does loss of rent actually work?
Two different things share the name. Loss of rent after an insured event pays your rent while the property is being repaired, for up to 52 weeks. Rent default pays when a tenant stops paying or absconds, and it is capped at a shorter period and requires a written tenancy agreement, a bond and a condition report. Both are included on a Wattle landlord policy, with separate limits printed on your certificate.
Is short-stay letting covered?
Not under this policy. If you let the property for periods of less than 30 days, whether through a platform or privately, you need a short-stay landlord product because the risk profile and the tenant screening are completely different. Ring us and we will tell you honestly whether we can help or whether you are better off elsewhere.

One property, or the whole small portfolio

Up to six properties can sit on one Wattle account with one renewal date. Ring the Brisbane office if you have more than that.

Get a quote 1300 928 853