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FUN, SUN AND FLIGHT DELAYS

Holidays

Elliot

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30 January 2017

Holidaymakers jetting off to Corfu or Ibiza this Easter may have their time in the sun cut short – as half of ALL flights to the popular tourist spots are likely to be delayed.

As well as busy airports and long queues, 50 per cent of the passengers heading to the top Mediterranean holiday spots are likely to face delays.

And sun-seekers heading towards Lanzarote in the Canary Islands are unlikely to fare any better – with one third of all Easter flights also likely to be delayed.

A table of the worst Easter holiday destinations for delays was compiled by researchers from FlightDelays.co.uk.

They studied flight data from 2016 concerning the top ten Easter and summer destinations for Brits.

The study found that flights to Corfu were delayed by an average of 23 minutes while passengers off to Ibiza were left waiting for 41 minutes.

And these hold-ups didn’t just impact a handful people – travel association ABTA estimated that over 2 million Brits went abroad over the Easter weekend last year.

The worst airlines for delays over the March weekend were Vueling Airlines – which saw 50 per cent of its flights delayed – followed by Norwegian Air Shuttle with 41 per cent of departures failing to set off on time.

According to FlightDelays.co.uk, sun-seekers heading for the Greek island of Crete at Easter are the most likely to get there on time.

However, 40 per cent of 1,500 flights to Heraklion airport on the island between July and August were delayed – making it the worst summer destination.

The last thing you want when you’re setting off on holiday is to be hit by a flight delay, but British airports seem to be getting worse when it comes to getting passengers from A to B on time.

Gatwick airport was the worst culprit for delays – with 33 per cent of flights failing to take off when scheduled last summer.

And figures analysed last year revealed delays at UK airports reached a five-year-high between July to September in 2015.

Over 78 million passengers passed through British airports that summer but more than one in four flights failed to take off when scheduled.

Steve Phillips, at flight compensation expert Flightdelays.co.uk, said: “We always encourage passengers to prepare thoroughly for their flight by arriving at the airport early and having their documentation ready, but sometimes there’s nothing you can do to stop a flight delay or cancellation.

“Our advice is to make sure you know your rights when flying, and to keep copies of all your documentation which might help you file your claim.”

Vickie Sheriff, Which? director of campaigns and communications, said: “Arriving at the airport to discover your flight has been delayed is incredibly frustrating, and something thousands of holidaymakers encounters.

“Passengers on late-running flights should claim the compensation if it’s due and we encourage people to claim what they’re rightly entitled to.”

Most Delayed Destinations over Easter Period 2016

1. CORFU 50 per cent
2. IBIZA 50 per cent
3. Lanzarote/Gran Canaria LAS PALMAS 36 per cent
4. Albufeira FARO 35 per cent
5. Majorca PALMA DE MALLORCA 33 per cent

Most Delayed Airlines over Easter Period 2016

VUELING AIRLINES 50 per cent
NORWEGIAN AIR SHUTTLE 41 per cent
THY TURKISH AIRLINES 39 per cent
WIZZ AIR 37 per cent
EASYJET AIRLINE COMPANY LTD 36 per cent

The 5 Best Personal Finance Apps

Technology

Sam Allcock

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30 January 2017

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We’re at the end of January and many New Year’s Resolutions are likely to be in full swing by now, many of which will be focused on getting our personal finances back into shape.

Whether it’s budgeting, saving or simply managing any debts you owe, if you’re still struggling to kick start organising your personal finances, there are plenty of tools available to help you on your way.

Of the many, many personal finance apps available on both Android and iOS, app building tool, Yappi, has whittled them down to their top five favourites.

Mint

This is known to be a particular favourite amongst many users of personal finance apps. Mint helps you manage your money, by showing you what you owe and when you need to pay it by. It even has settings that you can personalise, so that the app will give you a nudge to remind you when to make certain payments and to who.

Other nifty additions that make Mint a favourite personal finance app, is its ability to compare your spending between months and between years, too. You can also download the desktop software for more detailed information and analysis on the progression of your personal finances.

Wally

Second on the list comes Wally, which is extra special as a free app, as it comes without any pesky adverts! Similarly to Mint, you can easily track your personal finances with Wally, whether it’s managing your payments or keeping an eye on your savings goals.

A unique feature that Wally users get is the ability to tag locations, or even add pictures to each time you log a spend. Although it might initially sound like a useless feature, users are often surprised by how tagging locations or adding pictures makes them consider their spending. It could be that they find they are spending too much money on nights out, or too much money at the supermarket; either way, tagging and adding photos adds that additional food for thought when it comes to managing personal finance.

Debt Manager

The majority of people have their debts, whether it’s student loans or a mortgage, credit card owings or even from borrowing money from a friend or relative. Whatever the reason for your debts, it’s important to keep on top of them to avoid a backlog of missed payments and additional interest costs.

By downloading the app, Debt Manager, users are able to effectively organise their debts and the total amount of money they owe. The app helps users to create a repayment plan as well as displaying the progress of debt repayments. As a user, you’re given advice on how to pay off your debts quicker, to keep you motivated on your journey towards financial freedom.

Qapital

If you’re planning on making a big difference to your savings this year, Qapital could help you with that. Each day, the app encourages you to save through little reminders or tips on what you could do to save more, quicker.

Qapital is perfect for those who want to save, but find that other things often become a priority. You’ll have no trouble saving thanks to the reminders and advice that Qapital provides.

Goodbudget

Remember when budgeting or savings for various different things were separated into envelopes with labels on? This old fashioned method became quickly outdated, especially with the threat of losing an envelope and plenty of valuable money.

Not to worry though, as some apps have recreated this method of handling finances, for those who used to love the idea of separating money in little paper envelopes. Goodbudget is an app that offers this nifty method, but in a digital form on your smartphone, rather than physical.

Keep an eye on the progress on each of your savings categories with Goodbudget. You can also share the information with other users on other smartphones, such as a friend you’re saving up to go on holiday with, or even a partner you’re planning to buy a house with.

Improve your business revenue

Business

Sam Allcock

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29 January 2017

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Life moves at a pretty fast pace in the online world, especially in the business and marketing sectors. What might have worked wonderfully yesterday, no longer necessarily works today, creating an ever-changing landscape, that will keep you on your toes at all times.

Online awareness

As advertisers and businesses become greater in number, so the knowledge and experience of the target audience changes. People grow weary of being targeted by the same marketing methods and with the same information, they reject many obvious attempts to entice sales and they become hardened to older methods.

Just as they are changing, so must you. If you don’t understand the people you are relying on for your business to succeed, the chances are it will go the opposite way and fail. Be aware of your customers preferences, pay attention to their feedback and above all, respect their viewpoints. A successful relationship with a customer begins long before they’ve made their first purchase and continues long after you’ve finalised a sale.

Value

Instead of bombarding your potential customers with endless amounts of pointless advertising, consider it from their point of view. Why would they waste time reading through information which holds no interest to them? Just as you require something from your target audience, they require something from you, so work on giving them more than just spam. Incentives come in all shapes and sizes; from an interesting piece of information to a short-term tracked discount, what will make them stand up and pay attention to you? What will they get out of it? Give them a reason to want to contact you.

Tracking

While it’s a positive move to stay ahead of the competition and keep regular contact with your audience, do you know the results of your hard work? With this in mind, it’s extremely important to track the results of your personal marketer’s toolbox, tracking online promotions, adverts and campaigns, You can’t judge the future direction of your marketing strategy unless you know if the current model is working for you or not.

Platforms

Take advantage of every platform available to you online. Don’t make the mistake of believing a website is enough for continued prosperity. Look into different aspects of social media, follow trends and be aware of the changing ways that customers are finding businesses. Most importantly of all, once you use these methods. link them all together, ensuring you increase your online presence to your very best ability. Some trends don’t last and some plant themselves firmly in the internets psyche, either way it won’t do you any harm at all to stay one step ahead of the rest.

5 Ways to Save Money with Your Friends

News

Sam Allcock

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26 January 2017

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5Putting a penny aside can be quite fun if you do it with your friends. In fact, there are a few techniques that will help you save money while having a great time with your best friends. In this article, we will tell about five excellent ways to keep your budget on track, all while spending some quality time with your closest friends.

1. Group Rates Make for Great Prices

Group of Australian women celebrating the Melbourne cup in the office.

A wide variety of businesses, from travel sites and all the way to restaurants and cinemas, offer better prices to groups and this is something that you could take advantage of together with your friends. If you want to eat out, it will be much cheaper if you scout for group offers. Not to mention you will have a great time sharing a meal with your friends. As for planning trips and vacations, you should really be doing this as a group because the discounts are extremely impressive. And travelling with your friends is bound to be a lot of fun, which makes this an ideal plan.

2. Shopping in Bulk Gets You Great Deals

Shopping cart full of food in the supermarket aisle. Side tilt view. Horizontal composition

Instead of doing your shopping alone, you could make this a group activity because you could buy your groceries in bulk. This will ensure that both you and your friends get far better prices for your entire shopping list. Not only is this a great way to save money, but it is also an excellent opportunity to make your shopping trips extremely fun. As far as frugal living goes, shopping in bulk is one of those strategies that will pay off on the spot, which means that it is well worth trying out.

3. Lottery Syndicates Could Get You Amazing Prizes

Cropped shot of a group of businesspeople high fiving in the office

Playing the lottery is the cheapest way to become a millionaire. If you put in the occasional lottery ticket, then why not do it together with your friends and increase your odds of becoming a winner? When playing lottery syndicates, you and your friends can pitch in and buy more tickets together. This way, you all get a higher chance of actually winning the lottery. If you do, you will share the winnings among yourselves, which means that you can live the millionaire life together.

4. Frugal Entertainment Beats Expensive Outings

Friends having party and dancing in a swimming pool – Young people enjoying vacation in a tropical resort hotel

Going out can prove to be quite costly these days, but this shouldn’t keep you from having fun with your friends. Instead of spending a fortune on expensive cocktails out on the town, you could try making your change in your weekend schedule and try out some frugal entertainment activities. Replace some of those nights out with having your friends over for a theme party. If you’re never really satisfied with the music they play in clubs, this is your chance to dance to your favourite songs and put some money aside. From 90’s parties to board game night and all the way to Game of Thrones marathons, you and your friends can have an amazing time while sticking to the budget.

5. Swapping Books and Magazines Makes for A Great Time

If you and your friends read the same magazines, there is no use for both of you to buy them. Sharing them will help you save money, but it will also give you the chance to discuss the best articles out there. If you are looking for a good book, why not start with your friends’ personal libraries? You probably already have a bunch of good read recommendations from them, so start there because it will keep your budget intact and it will give you the opportunity to have your very own book club.

These simple techniques are virtually effortless, but they will make a significant difference to your budget. And the best part is that they will actually bring you and your friends closer. So, try them out and see just how much you can save while having fun!

How To Resolve Your National Insurance Card Problems

Tax

Sam Allcock

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26 January 2017

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How To Resolve Your National Insurance Card Problems

Many young people can remember the moment when their national insurance card dropped through the letterbox. The sense of excitement at impending adulthood was hard to beat, and many people saw the arrival of the card as confirmation that they were now old enough to get a proper job.

In the name of progress, cards have now been replaced with a letter, which if anything exacerbates the problems we are going to discuss even further. The problem, of course, is how do find your national insurance number if you have lost that precious card or piece of paper, and are not currently employed.

For those with a job your NI number can normally be found on your wage slip. Our recommendation, should you be able to find it is to write it down somewhere, and then place it in a secure location so that you never find yourself without this vital piece of information.

If you are unable to locate it, then there are a number of options available to you. The choices you make will largely depend on how much hassle and effort you want to put yourself through.

If you were not born in the United Kingdom, then you need to get a National Insurance number before you can be legally employed. This process is obviously slightly more complex than just replacing your previous number, and for the vast majority of people, the easiest option is outlined below.

A Done For You Service

For many people, the idea of a done for you service is very appealing. The application process for any government form is often complicated, and not particularly straightforward. It only takes one little mistake, for the form to be rejected and more time wasted. That is where a company that completes the entire process for you may be the perfect solution. When you need to apply for your NI-Apply number these companies are the experts on the system. They will walk you through the entire process, and know exactly what is required to fill in the form properly. This is probably the closest service equivalent to the post offices check and send passport service.

Apply Online

If you are more confident or simply want to complete the process yourself then you can visit the government’s website and fill in the appropriate form. The application process may include an interview, so it is essential that you read all of the information available in preparation for that interview. If you are asked to attend for an interview you will need to provide some form of identification which may include a passport, identity card or driving license.

It is essential that you do not begin any work within the UK unless you can prove that you are entitled to work here. If you are entitled to work in the UK and have applied for a National Insurance number there is no need to wait for that number to arrive before starting work. Simply furnish your new employer with the information as and when it arrives.

Top 5 Affordable gadgets on the market

Technology

Sam Allcock

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26 January 2017

0

Ranging from audio to wearables and from computing to Smartphone, they’re some hot and yet affordable devices that you can buy for yourself or for presenting your near and dear ones. The lost below has five such items. Let’s not waste anymore time and get started with this list

For all those on the lookout for the items with the best rating for this season or those who could do with a prod in the correct direction, this list has some trendiest tech pieces.

There is no need for you to spend much money for getting the suitable present and yet you have some options. Among the items in this list is a couple of entry-level tech items that cost less than $100 and also some present pieces for gentlemen who already own quite a few tech toys.

This list has the finest tech pieces for your husband, boyfriend, brother, or any gentleman in your life, for that matter.

The top selling Fitbit

The Fitbit Alta Fitness Tracker is the contemporary offering from Fitbit. With this device, you can tune your coronary heart rate, workouts, a number of calories burned, distance, the number of floors climbed, the number of active minutes and also steps. Also, you can reveal how protracted and how proper you were able to get while you had been dozing. You also have the facility of getting calls as well as texts even as you are moving.

GoPro HERO5 Black

Some elements make GoPro HERO5 stand out from the former GoPro models. Among them is the facility of taking spectacular 4K video in conjunction with voice manage to have straightforward voice instructions for letting customers be more in charge of the GoPro of theirs. With the help of a touch display of 2 inches, a user can preview and also play back all shots as well as trim snaps and also trade settings on the need arising.

Binge Watching sport Changer

This is an example of a present-day gadget! Just plug the device into the HDMI port of your TV within a flash and you can witness more than 250,000 suggests from Hulu, Netflix, HBO GO, Amazon, and all that. As a bonus, you get to experience Alexa voice manage plus over 7,000 games and apps.

Beats Solo2 Cordless On-Ear Headphone

Do you wish to go cordless and be snug and comfortable even as you stay attentive to music and also keep up with the trend? The answer lies with Beats Solo2, which is available in white, black, blue, red, and gold. These terrible boys shown above are in-house gray.

Amazon Echo – the finest substitute for Siri

It’s time to say adieu to Siri and say Hello to Alexa. This gadget is the closest that it has been to Star Trek as of now. It is Hands-free, and you get all the comfort in the world in asking Alexa anything, and she is going to answer. You have the option of finding out about the weather conditions, traffic, the amount of history that is associated with Adele, put on or put off your lights using nothing other than a voice command, start playing Jeopardy and a great deal more! And then, you can listen to any song. What more could you ask for?

You’ll find more such pieces at GearHungry.

How Is Your UX Design Affecting Your Conversion Rates?

Technology

ABC Staff

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25 January 2017

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How Is Your UX Design Affecting Your Conversion Rates?

There are many aspects that come into play when it comes to a perfectly designed website, that has consistently high conversions. Every feature and function on your site needs to work together, to guide your site users to their end goal, and this is where UX design comes into play.

The perfect user experience needs to have the user at its central focal point. Everything a web designer creates needs to serve the user and their goals and motivations. If there are flaws in the user’s journey, you could see your site visitors dropping off before they reach your conversion point.

To help you identify whether it is your UX design that is the cause of your poor conversion rates, London based UX design agency, USIO, have provided a few points to check over. These are just a few of the most commonly found issues when it comes to poor UX, but they are also easily fixed.

Can people find your point of conversion?

More often than not, businesses do not have a clear and powerful CTA on their homepage. Any booking or enquiry forms need to take pride of place on your landing page, in order for your users to easily convert.

Adding in a large button to the top of your homepage, with a clear call to action, can do wonders for conversion rates. If it is right in the user’s eye line as soon as they land on the page, they are far more likely to click and convert.

For e-commerce sites, making sure customers can easily find their baskets and checkout options is the most important aspect.

Are your contact forms and checkout procedures simple and easy to follow?

Overcomplicating the conversion process is easily done. Adding in extra data capture steps or making your checkout process long winded, can all contribute to high drop off rates. Any type of form should only include the absolute basic fields e.g. name, email address and message box.

It’s also important to make it clear as to what the users details will be used for and that it will be protected under the data protection act. If users are made aware of how their details will be used, you are more likely to create trust and improve the chances of them completing the form.

The same applies to the checkout process. Make sure you make it clear what payment methods can be used and how that data will be kept secure. Offer the option of using PayPal and offer a ‘guest checkout’ option for faster conversion.

Is your site navigation clear and direct?

Your main landing page will always be your homepage, this page will usually appear highest in Google rankings and any natural links will, more than likely, be pointing to this page.

When users land on your homepage, they want to be able to immediately find what they’re looking for, or they will head back to their search engine to find one of your competitors. Your navigation should not only be easy to find straight away, but have clear and precise labels, to help guide the user to the exact information or product they are looking for.

Is your site design focused around your user journey?

UX design literally means user experience design, this means your users are your focus and your site should be perfectly catered for their needs. Your user journey needs to be like a perfectly smooth road that leads directly to your end goal. Any bumps or sharp turns could throw your site visitors through a loop, confusing them or putting them off completing their task.

The design of your website isn’t all about how the site looks, the most important part is how it functions. Pages and images need to be quick to load, CTAs need to be clear and the focus of any landing page and user journey needs to be seamless.

Keeping your user at the forefront of your UX design will not only ensure a happy and loyal customer, but also increase your sites chances of regular conversions.

Average Mid-Life Crisis Costs Over £7,000

Finance

Jack Peat

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25 January 2017

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Average Mid-Life Crisis Costs Over £7,000

The average mid-life crisis will cost Brits £7,712.39, it has been revealed.

A new study of 2,000 UK adults over the age of 40 has found that nearly forty per cent believe they have experienced some kind of life crisis.

And mid-life crises are almost as common in women as in men, with 39 per cent of females suffering a waver in middle age compared to 40 per cent of men.

An urge to travel is the most costly aspect of a mid-life crisis, setting respondents back an average of £1,471 each.

However, six in 10 Brits believe that a crisis can be a good thing, giving the opportunity to break away from scenarios that cause misery, and a chance to set new goals.

Olivia Hill, Chief HR Officer at AAT (The Association of Accounting Technicians), the organisation which commissioned the survey, said: “This study found that a huge proportion of the country has felt anxiety about the direction their life has taken.

“And one of the most common causes for a mid-life crisis is dissatisfaction in the workplace.

“At AAT we often see people who are studying with us have moved from a career they are not happy with, to make a positive change in their lives.

“Perhaps more people should consider a change of career not just to enhance their earning potential or improve their work/life balance, but to avoid the stresses and strains of a mid-life crisis.”

A third of respondents admit to feeling “Sunday night dread”, where they fear what the working week ahead of them may hold.

And, worryingly for managers who want to retain staff, 22 per cent say they definitely won’t be working for the same company in 10 years.

The single most common way to tackle a mid-life crisis is a change of career, with a quarter of Brits switching employers after the age of 40.

The average mid-life crisis begins at the age of 43 years, one month and three weeks, and most respondents pinned the years between 31-40 as the best of their lives.

22 per cent said their mid-life crisis came shortly after they started noticing when policemen and politicians were younger than them.

Half of the country believes that a lack of money is what’s prevented them from having “the perfect life”, and a third say a lack of self-confidence has held them back.

TOP 30 SIGNS OF A MID-LIFE CRISIS

1. Changing jobs
2. Noticed when politicians/policemen were younger than you
3. Broke up with partner
4. Had a one-night stand
5. Started taking vitamins
6. Went travelling
7. Moved house
8. Started flirting with people 20 years younger
9. Divorced spouse
10. Stopped celebrating my birthday
11. Revisited holiday destinations from when you were younger
12. Looked up an old partner on Facebook
13. Joined Facebook
14. Looked up ex-girlfriends/boyfriends on Facebook
15. Took up a new hobby
16. Joined a gym
17. Bought a sports car
18. Got a partner who was younger than the previous one
19. Started wearing clothes you thought made you look younger
20. Got a tattoo
21. Bought skinny jeans
22. Bought a motorbike
23. Started listening to “young people’s” music
24. Joined Twitter
25. Started using anti-aging products
26. Took your age off your Facebook profile
27. Dyed your hair
28. Bought an expensive bicycle
29. Stopped telling people your age
30. Ran a marathon

Party Wall Surveyors’ Fees

ABC Staff

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24 January 2017

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Homeowners wanting to improve their property see the Party Wall Act as an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and will often complain about the lack of value or the poor service they receive in return for the often considerable surveyors’ fees they are obliged to pay.

Much of this stems from a poor understanding of the process. While a party wall surveyor may perform a service by drafting the necessary notices on behalf of a building owner (the party undertaking the works), once a notice has been dissented to by an adjoining owner that surveyor becomes an appointed impartial arbitrator fulfilling a statutory role in resolving the dispute that has arisen. If an owner understands that, they can better appreciate why the method by which fees are calculated is very different to regular client/surveyor relationship.

The only reference relating to fees in the Act is found in section 10(13) which states that the reasonable costs incurred in making an award (that’s the document produced by the surveyors to settle the dispute) are to be determined by the surveyors. In other words, the surveyors decide both the level of their fees and who pays them. The act also requires the two surveyors to select a third surveyor should they fail to reach agreement on any issue including the costs.

You might think that such a system is open to abuse but there are checks and balances in place and on the whole they work very well. From that brief reference in the Act, the following standard procedure has evolved.

The building owner will generally obtain 2 or 3 fee proposals in the form of either a fixed fee or an hourly rate plus an estimated number of hours. It is not known at this stage how the adjoining owners will respond to the notices so any fee proposal would have to cover different scenarios. That’s all fairly straightforward.

It is the adjoining owners’ surveyors’ fee that tends to cause the issue. A key principle of the Act is that an adjoining owner is free to appoint any surveyor that they wish and to avoid compromising that principal fees should not be a consideration in that choice. It must be so to avoid the building owner repeatedly vetoing the adjoining owner’s choice of surveyor on the grounds of cost until they end up with the cheapest possible option. To balance this, the Act requires that fees must be ‘reasonable’ and must be agreed by the two surveyors or determined by the Third Surveyor.

In practical terms this means that the adjoining owner’s surveyor keeps a record of the time spent and forwards that record to the building owner’s surveyor for review once all other issues have been agreed. In most cases the proposed fee is reasonable and is agreed without any further discussion being required. In some cases the building owner’s surveyor will need to query certain items and there may be a period of negotiation. If negotiations are looking like they’re going to drag on for some time the surveyors have the option of including an ‘on account’ figure in the award to avoid delaying the works.

In very few cases, I would estimate less than 1%, the two appointed surveyors fail to reach agreement and the matter is referred to the third surveyor. The building owner’s surveyor should always give the building owner the opportunity to accept a fee before referring it to the Third Surveyor as a referral risks further fees being incurred if the Third Surveyor deems the fee to be reasonable.

Once the adjoining owner’s surveyor’s fee has been agreed or determined it is entered into the award. The owners have a right to appeal the award within 14 days (appeals are heard in the County Court) but the chances of a court overturning a fee that has been deemed reasonable by the surveyors are small.

This article was written by Dakota Murphey, an independent content writer who specialises in the financial and construction sector.

7 Top Tips for First Time Landlords

ABC Staff

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24 January 2017

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Buying property to let out is still a very attractive investment opportunity. It means that there are a lot of people coming into the market as landlords for the first time. If you’re thinking of making the jump into letting property you need to be aware that there are pitfalls that can cause serious problems. With that in mind, here are seven top tips to help out first time landlords.

Letting agent or not?

All landlords must make a fundamental choice of using a letting agent or managing the let by themselves. The advantage of a letting agent is that they will take care of a lot of the tricky stuff including helping to find tenants and dealing with any problems that arise – but it comes at a price. Letting agents will take somewhere in the region of 10 per cent of your rental income. If you feel comfortable dealing with tenants yourself you can save the money, but for a first time landlord you might best of working with a letting agent to start with.

Interior design with tenants in mind

There can be a tendency for first time landlords to buy the property and they lay it out in a way that suits the way that they live. It’s important to remember that what your tenants want is likely to be different from what you would want, so you need to design the property with them in mind. This is where it becomes important to have a target market in mind for your property. If you know you are targeting professional couples you’ll take a different approach to the interior than if you were designing a property for young families.

Insurance is a big deal

As a landlord you need to have landlord insurance. Remember that this is different from the standard insurance that all homeowners need to have and it protects you from a range of problems you might encounter with your buy-to-let. Every landlord insurance option will be different so it is vital that you read through every policy carefully to understand what each one covers you for. Accidents can and will happen so you need to be protected for that as a minimum, but you might also be wish to be covered in the event of emergency repairs or a legal dispute with a tenant.

You need a safety net

Many first time landlords make the mistake of pushing themselves to their financial limit to get the property they want. The problem can then be that they don’t have any savings to deal with any voids or unforeseen emergency problems. Be sure that you are putting yourself in a great position to make a return on your investment but don’t do it at the cost of your financial security. Have a safety net in place to pay for any freak occurrences or unexpected vacancies.

Take a deposit

It might be tempting to offer your let without taking a deposit but it can leave you in a very difficult position if your tenant badly damages the property or pulls out of the agreement early. Taking around one month’s rent is standard practice in the industry. You are then required to register your tenant’s deposit with an approved Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme.

Have a tenancy agreement created professionally

You should have a tenancy agreement written up so that there is no ambiguity on both your rights and the tenant’s rights. The agreement will set out the terms and conditions of the tenancy, detailing what aspects of upkeep each party is responsible for and the notice period. With no tenancy agreement you leave yourself open to legal disputes and other problems.

Comply with regulations

You need to remember that owning a buy-to-let property is very different from owning a home. You need to comply with basic legal regulations for everything from fire, gas and electric to furniture. Things that you might think of as small issues in your property might be grounds to make a property legally unsafe for tenants. If possible you should have an independent safety inspector come in to check through the property and ensure that there is nothing that would invalidate your insurance or put tenants at risk.

This article was written by Dakota Murphey, independent content writer working alongside Brian Gale Surveyors, members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) who were consulted for some of the information in this post.

FUN, SUN AND FLIGHT DELAYS

The 5 Best Personal Finance Apps

Improve your business revenue

5 Ways to Save Money with Your Friends

1. Group Rates Make for Great Prices

2. Shopping in Bulk Gets You Great Deals

3. Lottery Syndicates Could Get You Amazing Prizes

4. Frugal Entertainment Beats Expensive Outings

5. Swapping Books and Magazines Makes for A Great Time

How To Resolve Your National Insurance Card Problems

Top 5 Affordable gadgets on the market

How Is Your UX Design Affecting Your Conversion Rates?

Can people find your point of conversion?

Are your contact forms and checkout procedures simple and easy to follow?

Is your site navigation clear and direct?

Is your site design focused around your user journey?

Average Mid-Life Crisis Costs Over £7,000

Party Wall Surveyors’ Fees

7 Top Tips for First Time Landlords

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