Landlord emergency

To be eligible for landlord emergency cover

Your property must be in the UK and a residential let under a tenancy agreement of six months or more. The residential property or flat must have no more than 12 bedrooms.

What landlord emergency insurance does not cover

Landlord emergency cover only applies to residential properties. As such, we won't cover insured emergencies relating to any commercial property or any commercial portion of a mixed-use premises.

The policy wording has the full terms and conditions, but the following key circumstances aren't covered:

• Incidents occurring in a property that has been unoccupied for 60 days or more
• Incidents relating to mains electricity, gas, and water supply
• Incidents relating to shared roofs or communal areas, or property not owned by you
• Costs for normal day-to-day property maintenance
• Costs incurred prior to the claim being accepted
• Cover for events that started before the date of your policy
• Damage caused by gaining access to carry out repairs

What to do in an emergency

If you believe the incident in your home could result in serious personal risk or substantial damage to the insured property, contact the fire, ambulance or police service.

If there is a gas leak, you should contact the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.

Contact your supplier if there is an emergency relating to a service such as the mains water or electricity supply.

Once you, your tenant or other authorised person has checked that the emergency is an insured incident, it's important that you contact our landlord emergency cover provider ARAG via the online claims portal or by calling 0800 197 1016, as soon as possible. They'll ask the claimant to confirm:

• The name of the policyholder and the address of the insured property, including the postcode
• The nature of the problem

Whoever is calling will be advised not to arrange for a contractor themselves because this won't be covered by the policy. ARAG will also advise the claimant not to start any work that hasn't been agreed to in advance.

Someone aged 18 or over must be at the property when the approved contractor arrives.

Once the claim is accepted, ARAG will arrange, and pay for, a contractor to attend the property with the aim of resolving the insured emergency. The contractor will either:

• carry out a temporary repair (or a permanent repair if this is no more expensive) or
• take other action, such as isolating a leaking component or gaining access to the property if the keys are lost

Once the claim is accepted, we'll always try to get to the property as soon as possible. However, it may take longer during bad weather conditions, and it may not always be possible if the weather could put the contractor in danger while undertaking their repairs. For instance, high winds may restrict a roofer from carrying out repairs, and damp electrics may pose a risk to an electrician.

Where necessary, there will be an attempt to provide replacement parts, but Direct Line for Business Landlord insurance cannot be held responsible if these are delayed or unavailable.

Claims relating to Landlord Emergency are administered and managed by ARAG on our behalf.

If you add a residential property to your policy mid-term (not at the point of taking out or renewing your policy), it won't be covered for an insured incident occurring in the first seven days of the property being added.

The property will be covered for an insured emergency occurring after the first seven days of the property being added, subject to the standard policy terms, conditions and exclusions.