Landlord insurance accidental damage cover, and the rest of what a let property policy has to carry

What a let property policy has to carry

1. Buildings cover on the right rebuild figure, not the market value. The sum insured is what it would cost to demolish and rebuild, including professional fees and site clearance, and it has almost nothing to do with what the property would sell for. Older stone and period buildings are routinely underinsured because owners insure them at market value, and underinsurance is dealt with by averaging the claim: insure for half and the insurer pays half, even on a small claim. Where the property is a leasehold flat the freeholder usually insures the building and you insure the rest, which is a different policy entirely.
2. Accidental damage, which is where tenant damage actually lands. Malicious damage by a tenant and accidental damage by a tenant are usually separate options, and a policy can carry one without the other. Accidental damage is the common claim: the broken bath panel, the cracked worktop, the door off its hinges. Malicious damage is rarer and harder to prove, and most insurers require a police report. Both sit above the deposit, which is why a deposit is a first line and never the cover.
3. Property owners liability, at a limit that reflects who visits. A tenant, their visitors, a contractor, a neighbour or a passer by injured because of the state of the building has a claim against the owner. This is the section that produces the large numbers, and it is usually offered at a choice of limits with the lowest set as the default. The figure to think about is what a serious injury costs once care and lost earnings are counted, not what the building is worth.
4. Loss of rent and alternative accommodation. If a fire or a flood makes the property uninhabitable, the mortgage does not stop and neither does the tenancy. Loss of rent pays the rent that stops arriving; alternative accommodation pays to rehouse the tenant where the tenancy requires it. Both are usually expressed as a percentage of the buildings sum insured or as a fixed period, and both are worth checking against how long a real rebuild takes rather than how long you hope it would.
5. The conditions that decide whether any of it pays. Every landlord policy carries conditions about how long the property may stand empty, what security it must have, and what safety checks must be current. Gas safety and electrical inspection are legal duties for a let property in their own right, and they are also the paperwork the insurer asks for when a claim arrives. An unoccupancy period breached without telling the insurer narrows cover to a short list of perils, quietly and in advance of anything going wrong.

Common questions

Is landlord insurance a legal requirement?

No statute requires it, but a buy to let mortgage almost always does as a condition of lending, and letting a property on a standard home policy usually voids that policy. In practice a let property is uninsured without it.

Is accidental damage included as standard?

Usually not. It is an option on most UK landlord policies and it is frequently the difference between two quotes that look the same. Tenant accidental damage and tenant malicious damage are often priced separately again.

Does landlord insurance cover the tenant's belongings?

No. The tenant insures their own contents. Your contents cover answers for what you supplied, which on a furnished let is carpets, curtains, white goods and furniture.

What happens if the property is empty between tenancies?

Cover narrows once the property has been empty for the period the policy states, commonly thirty to sixty days, and the insurer must be told. Unoccupied property cover exists for longer voids and carries its own conditions about heating, water and inspections.

Do I need a separate policy for each property?

Not once there are several. Portfolio landlord policies put the properties on one schedule with one renewal and one excess structure, and they are usually cheaper than separate policies.

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