Whether you’re an estate agent or a letting agent, if you’re a property professional you’re going to need insurance. And your insurance policy will need to be specific to what it is that you do.
Office Insurance for Estate Agents & Letting Agents
If your agency works from an office location, office insurance will cover the contents of your office against theft, flood and fire. Online estate agents and letting agents are becoming even more popular now, offering lower prices due to their lack of a walk-in office for customers. If you operate an exclusively online estate agent or letting agent business, you can also get office insurance to cover your private office or home office.
There is also a type of office insurance cover known as “business interruption” which would allow you to claim back some of the financial loss that directly resulted from being unable to work due to the event of any insured peril.
Public Liability Insurance for Estate Agents & Letting Agents
As an estate agent or letting agent, you’re going to be dealing a lot with members of the public – your friendly customers! However, customers can quickly stop being so friendly if you cause them injury or damage their property during, for instance, a property viewing or appraisal. Or perhaps you accidentally damage the landlord’s furniture whilst showing a prospective tenant around a furnished property to let.
If you regularly have customers come into your office, public liability insurance for letting agents and estate agents will also cover you against any injury that they may endure during that visit. For example, a customer tripping over loose carpet in your office.
Employers Liability Insurance for Estate Agents & Letting Agents
Employers Liability Insurance is a legal requirement for businesses, compulsory for any business employing any full-time, part-time, contracted, apprentice, voluntary and temporary workers. The legal minimum cover required is £5 million, and can be bought from as little as £40 per annum.
This type of insurance covers any sort of injury an employee may suffer whilst working for you, including repetitive strain injuries, trips and falls and any other unforeseeable accident that may occur at the workplace.
Professional Indemnity Insurance for Estate Agents & Letting Agents
If you give professional advice to a customer that later results in financial loss for them, they may seek legal action and demand financial compensation for your professional negligence in order to recover their loss. Legal defense costs money, but professional indemnity insurance can cover these expenses.
Professional Indemnity Insurance is a requirement to become a member of NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents), the UK’s leading professional body for estate agency, and your proof of insurance certificate has to be enclosed with their application form. The minimum level of professional indemnity cover needed is £100,000. However, if you are a residential letting agency the minimum is £150,000, or £500,000 if your annual fee income is above £150,000.
When you buy letting agent or estate agent insurance with Ashburnham, you will be instantly provided with the best premium prices for your business insurance policy, comparing quotes from trusted UK insurers and a summary of what is covered with each. You can then decide which is the most suitable for you.