COVERTRADE SERVICES
Landlord Insurance
Comprehensive protection for residential and commercial landlords.
Why A Home Policy Will Not Do
At CoverTrade, we take pride in our ability to provide comprehensive insurance coverage for residential and commercial landlords and AirBNB property owners. Our diverse range of policies includes coverage for buildings, contents, and various tenant types.
In addition, we offer professional indemnity insurance for those who offer property management services. We also have add-ons available for Home Emergency Cover, Landlords Legal Cover and Rent Guarantee.
Other types of property insurance we cover include block of flats, HMO, holiday let, mixed commercial and residential, rent to rent and unoccupied property.
How Much Is Landlord Insurance?
Across the property owner policies we place, premiums start at around £215 a year.
A single small flat can come in under £150. A large house, a portfolio or a block runs into the thousands. The spread is wide because the premium follows the building rather than the rent: rebuild cost, location and construction, whether it is furnished, the type of tenant, how much loss of rent you need, and your claims record.
These are premiums arranged for other landlords and are not a quote. Call 02382 000820 and we will go to the market for you.
Who Your Tenants Are Changes The Premium
Insurers rate on who occupies the property, and the differences are larger than most landlords expect. Professional tenants on a long let sit at one end; students, tenants on housing benefit, and short-term or serviced accommodation are each rated differently.
That is not a judgement about tenants, it reflects claims patterns. How often occupants change, how long a property sits empty between lets, and how much wear it takes.
What matters for you is that it is declared accurately. Letting to a different type of tenant than the one on your schedule is a material change, and it surfaces during a claim. If your strategy shifts (a family home turned into a student let, or a long let moved onto a short-term platform) make the call at the time rather than at renewal.
Check At Renewal
Five things worth confirming on a landlord policy.
- Rebuild cost, not market value
- Tenant type declared accurately
- Loss of rent amount and period
- Any property currently empty
- Property owners’ liability limit
- Flexible payment options
- Dedicated account managers
- Out-of-hours contact should you need to make a claim or just have a question
- A quick and easy, pain-free service
- An excellent customer experience
Void Periods Between Tenancies
This is the gap landlords fall into most often, because nobody thinks of a month between tenants as the property being “unoccupied”. Insurers do. Most policies restrict cover once a property has stood empty beyond a set period, commonly 30 or 45 days, typically dropping to fire, lightning, explosion and aircraft only.
Theft, escape of water and malicious damage (the things an empty property actually attracts) are the ones that fall away. Conditions usually follow too: inspections at set intervals with a written record, water drained down in winter, post cleared, and the property properly secured. A refurbishment between tenancies counts as a void as well. Tell us when a property empties rather than at renewal.
Rebuild Cost, Not Market Value
The sum insured on the building is what it would cost to rebuild it, including demolition, site clearance and professional fees, not what it would sell for and not what you paid. On flats it is your share of rebuilding the whole block, which is why a leasehold flat worth £250,000 might carry a rebuild figure far below that, or a period building with a slate roof far above it.
Get it wrong and an average condition, which most policies of this kind carry, can cut the settlement proportionately: insure a £300,000 rebuild for £200,000 and a £60,000 claim is settled at £40,000. Building costs have moved sharply and index-linking alone rarely keeps pace, so a figure set a few years ago is very often short. A professional reinstatement valuation settles it properly on anything substantial; for a flat, the block's own valuation is usually the starting point.
Loss Of Rent Is Not Rent Guarantee
These are two different things and they are confused constantly, usually at the worst possible moment.
Loss of rent sits inside the buildings policy. It pays when the property cannot be lived in after an insured event (a fire, a flood, a serious escape of water) and it usually covers a percentage of the sum insured for a set indemnity period. It has nothing to say about a tenant who stops paying.
Rent guarantee is a separate product that covers exactly that: arrears from a tenant who will not pay, and often the legal costs of recovering possession. It comes with conditions: referencing the tenant properly before the tenancy starts, a signed agreement, and notifying arrears within a set number of days. Miss the referencing and it does not respond. Premiums can be paid monthly or annually.
What We Need To Quote
The address, age and construction of each property, its rebuild cost, whether it is let furnished or unfurnished, the type of tenant and the length of tenancy, the annual rent, whether any property is currently empty or being refurbished, and your claims record for the last five years. For a portfolio, a schedule of addresses and sums insured covers most of it.
Protect Your Rental Properties
So why wait? Protect your rental properties today with CoverTrade's comprehensive insurance coverage. Contact us now to schedule a consultation with one of our expert advisors.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
- Buy to let insuranceThe single-let version, and the cover a residential tenancy actually needs.
- HMO insuranceA house in multiple occupation is a different risk and is rated separately.
- Unoccupied property insuranceBetween tenancies, most landlord policies restrict cover after 30 or 45 days empty.
- Block of flats insuranceIf you own the freehold rather than individual flats.
Common questions
How much is landlord insurance?+
Across the property owner policies we place, premiums start at around £215 a year. A single small flat can be under £150; a large house, a portfolio or a block runs into the thousands. What moves it is the rebuild cost rather than the value, where the property is and how it is built, the type of tenant, whether it is furnished, how much loss of rent you need, and your claims record.
Can I use normal home insurance on a property I rent out?+
No. A standard household policy is written on the basis that you live there, and letting is a change of use that most insurers exclude outright. If you let without telling them, a claim can be declined, and not only a tenant-related one, because the undeclared change of use can be raised against anything. It is also usually a condition of a buy-to-let mortgage that you hold proper landlord cover.
What does landlord insurance actually cover?+
Buildings cover for the structure, which is the core. Property owners' liability, usually £2m to £5m, for injury to a tenant or visitor caused by the building. Loss of rent while the property is uninhabitable after an insured event. Landlord's contents (carpets, curtains, white goods, anything you supplied) which is a different thing from the tenant's own belongings. Alternative accommodation for the tenant is often included, and legal expenses and rent guarantee can usually be added.
Is rent guarantee the same as loss of rent?+
No, and they are frequently confused. Loss of rent is part of the buildings cover and pays when the property cannot be lived in after an insured event such as a fire or flood. Rent guarantee is a separate product that pays when the tenant simply does not pay, and usually comes with conditions: referencing the tenant properly, a signed tenancy agreement, and prompt notification of arrears. If you want protection against a tenant defaulting, loss of rent is not it.
Do I need to tell my insurer between tenancies?+
Yes, if the gap runs on. Most policies restrict cover once a property is unoccupied beyond 30 or 45 days, usually dropping to fire, lightning, explosion and aircraft and excluding theft, escape of water and malicious damage. Conditions normally follow: regular documented inspections, water drained down in winter, post cleared. A refurbishment between tenancies counts too. It is a five-minute phone call and it is the difference between cover and no cover.
Am I liable if a tenant is injured in the property?+
You can be, where the injury results from the condition of the building or something you were responsible for maintaining: a faulty stair rail, an electrical fault, a defective boiler. Property owners' liability is the section that responds. Keeping gas safety certificates, electrical inspection reports and repair records up to date is both a legal duty and, in practice, what defends the claim.
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Related reading
Guides from our team on the cover discussed on this page.
