Many landlords stay with the same insurance broker year after year.

Sometimes that loyalty is deserved. A good broker should understand the landlord’s property, review the market properly, challenge the renewal, ask the right questions and make sure the landlord is receiving competitive cover that remains fit for purpose.

But loyalty should never be blind.

If your landlord insurance renewal simply arrives each year with limited discussion, limited review and limited explanation, it is worth asking a difficult question:

Are you being rewarded for your loyalty — or taken for granted?

Loyalty should work both ways

A long-standing relationship with a broker can feel reassuring.

They know your property. They have dealt with you before. They may have arranged your insurance for years. Staying with them may feel easier than reviewing the market or speaking to someone new.

But loyalty should not mean accepting whatever renewal arrives.

If a broker values your business, they should be working for it before you threaten to leave. They should be reviewing your cover, checking whether your circumstances have changed, looking at the market, and making sure the renewal is still competitive.

If the only time your broker becomes more active is after you produce another quote, that should tell you something.

If they can reduce the price now, why not before?

This is one of the biggest warning signs for landlords.

You receive your renewal. The premium is higher than expected. You obtain an alternative quote. You go back to your existing broker. Suddenly, they can match it or beat it.

At first, that may feel like a success. You have stayed with the broker you know and secured a lower price.

But it raises an obvious question:

If that price was available after you challenged them, why was it not offered at renewal?

Landlords should be careful about rewarding a broker who only becomes competitive when they are at risk of losing the business.

That is not necessarily evidence of good service. It may simply be evidence that they assumed you would not check.

A renewal should be challenged before it reaches you

A proper landlord insurance renewal should not be a passive process.

Your broker should be asking whether the existing policy still fits your circumstances. They should be checking the property details, tenant type, sums insured, loss of rent cover, malicious damage, excesses, exclusions, unoccupancy conditions and any material facts that may affect cover.

For portfolio landlords, this matters even more. If you own several rental properties, the renewal should be reviewed as a portfolio, not treated as routine paperwork.

A broker who simply rolls the policy forward may not be giving your investment the attention it deserves.

This is where Clear’s approach matters

NetRent works with Clear Insurance Management because we believe they offer the right level of expertise, service and professionalism for landlord property insurance.

A key part of that is renewal behaviour.

Clear do not simply renew landlord policies automatically without properly considering the market. On renewal, Clear always re-broke the insurance to ensure landlords are getting the best available price and policy for their circumstances.

That matters.

Re-broking means the renewal is actively reviewed rather than simply repeated. It means the policy is considered again, the market is checked, and the landlord’s current circumstances are taken into account. It helps ensure the landlord is not just being carried forward because renewal is the easiest option.

That is exactly the kind of approach landlords should expect.

The cheapest renewal is not always the best renewal

Some landlords judge broker performance only by price.

Price matters. NetRent and Clear understand that landlords want competitive premiums and do not want to pay more than necessary.

But the cheapest renewal is not always the best renewal.

The policy still has to be suitable. The cover has to reflect the property. The excesses have to be understood. The exclusions need to be checked. The landlord needs confidence that important areas such as loss of rent, malicious damage and unoccupancy conditions have been considered properly.

A good renewal should aim for both:

competitive price and appropriate cover.

That is very different from simply accepting the lowest number on the page.

Do not confuse familiarity with value

A familiar broker is not automatically the best broker.

The question is not simply whether you know their name or have used them for years. The question is whether they are actively working in your interests every year.

Are they asking enough questions?

Are they reviewing your cover properly?

Are they challenging the insurer?

Are they comparing the market?

Are they explaining changes?

Are they looking at your insurance as landlord protection, not just an annual transaction?

If the answer is no, then familiarity may be costing you.

What NetRent brings to the process

NetRent has worked with landlords for 23 years. We understand rental property, landlord concerns and the practical risks that need to be considered when arranging insurance.

We speak to landlords directly. We ask the relevant questions. We understand that a landlord with one property, a landlord with an HMO and a landlord with a portfolio of ten or more properties may have very different insurance needs.

Through our partnership with Clear, landlords have access to a dedicated NetRent insurance team with specialist landlord insurance expertise, competitive products and a renewal process built around proper review rather than passive repetition.

That gives landlords a real alternative to staying with a broker simply because they have always done so.

Do not let your broker rely on your inertia

If your renewal is approaching, do not assume your existing broker has done everything possible.

Ask whether the policy has been properly reviewed.

Ask whether the market has been checked.

Ask whether your cover still reflects your property or portfolio.

Ask whether your price is genuinely competitive.

And if your broker only becomes interested when you threaten to leave, ask why.

Your landlord insurance should be earned every year, not assumed.

Contact NetRent before you renew

If your landlord insurance renewal is approaching, do not let loyalty become a trap.

Send your renewal to NetRent before you commit. Let us review what you have been offered. Let us ask the right questions. Let us see whether Clear’s dedicated NetRent team can provide a more competitive or better-suited option.

You may save money. You may improve your cover. You may discover that your existing broker has not been working as hard for your business as you thought.

But most importantly, you will not be renewing out of habit.

Call NetRent: 01352 721300
Email: insurance@netrent.co.uk

Before you renew with the same broker again, send your renewal to NetRent and let us challenge it properly.