Whether you subsidise your income by renting out part of your home or you manage a number of separate rental properties, as a landlord there are a number of things you need to safeguard in order to look after both yourself and your tenants.

Some such considerations reflect generic home cover policies - such as building and contents insurance - while other features take on a markedly more niche air.

The most crucial thing that any buy-to-let investor will want to protect will be the bricks and mortar that make up their property. To this end all landlord insurance policies will include staple buildings insurance, which affords peace-of-mind against such things as fire or flood damage - in many cases even paying out up to 30 per cent of the value of a property against loss of earnings (i.e. rent).

As with regular personal dwelling policies, contents insurance is another major concern. But a crucial distinction must be drawn between a landlord's own personal contents - typically furnishings - and those of his tenant, which will not enjoy protection in your policy. Tenants must therefore be advised to take out their own separate policies.

Similarly, the prudent buy-to-let investor will want to weigh up in his mind whether he wants standard cover or accidental cover, with the latter offering a greater degree of protection against the less-than-sage antics of hapless tenants.

In addition to all the familiar home insurance concerns, however, a wide swathe of issues specifically relating to landlords must also be taken into consideration.

Undeniably the most crucial of these is public liability protection, which protects you and your business against any claims arising from an incident involving your property, for example loose tiles injuring a passer-by. As ever, though, there will be numerous clauses outlining what responsibilities landlords accept as their own - such as adhering to health and safety legislation - and failure to abide by these commitments will result in a claim being nullified.

Furthermore, while homeowners who take out personal legal liability insurance enjoy protection against any claims made by a tradesperson working on their property, such policies exclude liabilities arising in connection with the policyholder's trade or profession. In the eyes of the law, therefore, basic home insurance policies become irrelevant for landlords as their property is treated as being their place of work - underscoring the importance of specialist cover.

This fact becomes particularly relevant for buy-to-let investors with substantial property portfolios to their names. For such individuals, employer's liability insurance will protect them and their business from any potential compensation claims made by employees who have sustained injuries at work - tradesmen or otherwise.

On a more mundane level, ordinary household policies are also inappropriate because they tend to include a clause that nullifies damage or theft claims once a property has been left vacant for 30 days or more - something that often becomes necessary in buy-to-let properties due to void tenancy periods or necessary refurbishment work.

"Landlords need to carefully consider their insurance needs and ensure that they are properly protected," concluded Tony Armitage of Paragon Insurance. "The biggest irony is that some landlords are actually paying through the nose for potentially unsuitable cover."