Types of landlord insurance are best understood as a small number of product families, each written for a particular kind of letting. Insurers do not sell one policy with options so much as several policies that look similar, and putting a property on the wrong one is the commonest way to have a claim reduced.
Standard residential landlord
Written for a house or flat let on an assured shorthold tenancy of six months or more to named tenants. Buildings, contents, liability, loss of rent and the tenant damage options. The default product and the wrong one for anything unusual.
Specialist occupancy products
HMO and student landlord policies, written for shared houses with licensing and long vacation voids. Company let and contractor accommodation. Housing benefit and supported accommodation. Each exists because the occupancy differs enough that the standard wording misdescribes the property.
Short let, commercial and portfolio
Holiday let and serviced accommodation policies, with guest liability and loss of income. Commercial property owners cover, rated on the tenant's trade. Portfolio policies carrying several properties on one schedule. And unoccupied policies for the periods when nothing is let at all.
Questions people ask about types of landlord insurance
How many types are there?
A handful of families: standard residential, specialist occupancy such as HMO and student, short let and holiday, commercial, portfolio and unoccupied.
How do I know which I need?
By the letting rather than the building. The tenancy type and the occupants decide it, which is why describing them accurately matters.
Can one policy cover several types?
A portfolio policy can carry different occupancies on one schedule if each is declared. Mixing them without declaring is a misdescription.