Landlord Insurance
Property owner cover for single buy-to-lets, mixed portfolios, HMOs and the tenant types most insurers avoid, arranged by an independent Hampshire broker.
The moment a tenant moves in, ordinary home insurance stops responding. Letting a property brings risks a household policy was never written for: lost rental income, malicious damage, liability towards tenants and visitors, and long stretches where the property sits empty between tenancies. We arrange cover that matches how your property is actually let.
Do You Need Landlord Insurance?
If you own a property that someone else lives in and pays to occupy, you need landlord insurance, formally known as property owners’ insurance. This applies even if you don’t think of yourself as a landlord: an inherited house now let out, a former home you couldn’t sell, or a flat rented to a family member all fall into the same category.
Continuing on a standard household policy is a genuine risk rather than a technicality. Insurers ask about occupancy for a reason, and a claim on a let property covered by a residential policy is likely to be declined outright. If you have a mortgage, your lender will almost certainly require appropriate buildings cover as a condition of the loan.
Where you own several rental properties, they can usually be combined onto one policy with a single renewal date, one schedule and one point of contact. That’s simpler to administer and often better value than holding separate policies with different insurers.
What Landlord Insurance Covers
Cover is built around the property and the tenancy rather than sold as a fixed package. These are the components we’ll discuss with you.
Buildings cover
The structure, permanent fixtures, outbuildings, boundary walls and underground services, insured for full reinstatement cost. For flats and maisonettes, buildings cover is often arranged through the freeholder or management company, we’ll help you check what’s already in place so you don’t pay twice or, worse, assume cover exists when it doesn’t.
Landlord contents cover
Anything you own inside the property: white goods, carpets, curtains, light fittings and any furniture in a furnished let. Tenants insure their own possessions, so this is limited to your items rather than theirs.
Loss of rent
Replaces your rental income if the property becomes uninhabitable following an insured event such as a fire or flood, usually including the cost of rehousing your tenants where the tenancy obliges you to. Given that a serious escape of water can leave a property unusable for months, this is one of the most valuable elements of the policy.
Property owners’ liability
Protection if a tenant, visitor, contractor or passer-by is injured or their property is damaged and you’re held responsible. Cover is typically arranged at £2 million or more, and many letting agents and local authorities require evidence of it.
Malicious damage by tenants
Deliberate damage caused by tenants is excluded from many standard policies and needs to be specifically arranged. Note that this covers wilful damage, not the gradual wear and tear or general neglect that a deposit is intended for.
Accidental damage
Optional cover for one-off accidents, a foot through a ceiling, a cracked bath, a drill through a pipe.
Accidental damage
Optional cover for one-off accidents, a foot through a ceiling, a cracked bath, a drill through a pipe.
Optional extensions
Rent guarantee and legal expenses cover, home emergency assistance, and cover for alternative accommodation. Rent guarantee is a distinct product from loss of rent, it responds to a tenant who stops paying rather than to damage to the building.
Products and services available
Rental Properties We Insure
Single buy-to-let properties
Houses and flats let on an assured shorthold tenancy, whether you own one or are just starting to build a portfolio.
Portfolio landlords
Multiple properties consolidated onto one policy, with a single renewal, a combined schedule and one adviser who knows the whole portfolio. Adding or removing properties mid-term is straightforward.
Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)
Shared houses with tenants on separate agreements carry a higher risk profile and additional licensing and fire safety obligations. Many mainstream insurers won’t write them at all, particularly above a certain number of occupants. We can.
Blocks of flats and freeholder cover
Where you own the freehold, the buildings insurance for the whole block usually falls to you, with the premium recovered through the service charge. Cover needs to reflect the full reinstatement value of the block, communal areas, lifts and any commercial units at ground level.
Student lets
Properties let to students, often on joint or individual tenancies with guarantors, and typically empty for long stretches over the summer.
Mixed and commercial-use buildings
A flat above a shop, office or takeaway is treated differently by insurers depending on the trade below it, and standard landlord policies often exclude these entirely.
Non-standard rental properties
Let properties with timber or steel frames, thatch, flat roofs, listed status or a subsidence or flood history need an insurer comfortable with both the construction and the letting. See our non-standard property insurance page.
Holiday lets and short-term rentals
Properties let through short-term platforms or as holiday accommodation are underwritten differently again, with higher occupant turnover and different liability exposures. See our holiday home insurance page.
Cover for Tenants Other Insurers Decline
Tenant type is one of the quickest ways to be refused a quote online. Automated systems tend to accept working professionals and reject almost everything else, regardless of how well the tenancy is actually managed.
We arrange cover for properties let to students, tenants in receipt of housing benefit or Universal Credit, asylum seekers and refugees, tenants placed by a local authority, and lets to companies rather than individuals. We can also help where a property is let unfurnished to a family member, sublet, or occupied under a licence rather than a tenancy.
Whatever the arrangement, describe it to us accurately. Insurers set conditions around tenant references, deposits and inventories, and a policy arranged on the wrong basis may not respond when you need it.
Where Landlord Policies Go Wrong
- Insuring for market value instead of rebuild cost
- Missing the unoccupancy clause
- Assuming the freeholder's policy is enough
- Assuming the freeholder's policy is enough
- Not updating cover when circumstances change
- Confusing rent guarantee with loss of rent
We can help you
Speak to a specialist about your landlord insurance needs
Specialist Insurance Solutions Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and our reference number is 305502. These details may be checked on the FCA’s register by visiting the FCA website or by contacting the FCA
- 02380 736266
- Email:info@sis-ltd.co.uk
- Based in Eastleigh SO50 9PD
Your Responsibilities as a Landlord
Insurers expect let properties to be maintained and legally compliant, and policy conditions usually reflect that. In broad terms, landlords in the UK are required to hold a valid gas safety record where there are gas appliances, to have the electrical installation inspected periodically, to fit and test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, to protect tenant deposits in an approved scheme, and to meet minimum energy efficiency standards. HMOs carry additional licensing and fire safety duties.
These obligations change from time to time and differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so check current requirements with your local authority or a solicitor, we’re insurance advisers rather than legal ones. What we can tell you is how your compliance affects your policy: keeping certificates current and records tidy makes claims markedly more straightforward.
Arranging Your Landlord Insurance
1. Tell us about the property
The address and construction, whether it’s a house, flat, HMO or block, the rebuild cost, the rent, and how it’s let.
2. We approach the right insurers
As an independent broker we access multiple markets, including specialist property owner insurers who won’t appear on comparison sites, and go to those most likely to write your particular arrangement.
3. We explain the options
A clear comparison of cover, exclusions and any conditions attached to tenant referencing, unoccupancy or the property’s construction, with our recommendation and why.
4. We manage it through the year
Adding properties, changing tenants, extending an unoccupancy period, handling renewals and supporting you through claims. One named adviser throughout.
Why Landlords Choose Specialist Insurance Solutions
We’ve arranged insurance since 1999 and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 305502, which you can verify on the FCA Register. Our advisers spent more than 25 years underwriting inside specialist insurers before moving into broking, so we know how property owner risks are assessed and how to present a portfolio well.
You get a named account manager rather than a call centre, independent advice rather than a single insurer’s product, and plain-English explanations of what your policy will and won’t do. There’s no charge for our advice, we’re remunerated by the insurer. Landlords rate us 4.6 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
Landlord Insurance in Hampshire and Across the UK
We’re based at Fleming Court Business Centre in Eastleigh, Hampshire (SO50 9PD), between Southampton and Winchester, and work with landlords across the Solent region, including the substantial student and professional rental markets in Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester, and holiday and second-home lets around the New Forest and the Isle of Wight.
We also arrange cover for landlords with properties throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including those living abroad or overseas-based owners of UK rental property. Most business is handled by phone and email, so location is no barrier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need landlord insurance if I rent out a property?
Yes. Once you have tenants in a property you own, ordinary home insurance no longer applies. Landlord (property owner) insurance is designed to protect your income-generating investment and the additional risks that come with letting.
Can I insure several properties on one policy?
Yes. Multiple rental properties can be combined on a single policy, which makes administration simpler and gives you one renewal date and one point of contact for your whole portfolio.
What does landlord insurance cover?
Cover can include buildings and contents, loss of rent, malicious and accidental damage, cover for periods when the property is unoccupied, and public (property owners’) liability. We tailor the cover to each property and tenancy.
Can you cover a rental property between tenancies or while it’s empty?
Yes. Periods when a let property is unoccupied – for example between tenants or during refurbishment – can be built into your landlord policy so you’re not left with a gap in protection.
Do you cover different types of tenant and property?
As an independent broker we have access to multiple markets, which lets us arrange cover for a wide range of tenancy and property scenarios rather than a single standard product. Tell us about your property and tenants and we’ll find a suitable insurer.
How do I get a landlord insurance quote?
Call 023 8073 6266 or contact our team. Let us know the property details and how it’s let, and we’ll arrange the correct level of cover with a rated insurer.