Insurance for commercial property owners.
Shops, offices, industrial units and mixed-use. Cover that reflects your tenants’ trade, your lease structure and the statutory inspections that come with the building.
Commercial landlord insurance
Usually includes
Buildings
Property owners’ liability
Loss of rent
Contents & communal areas
Legal expenses
Empty periods
One
conversation.
You explain the business once, and we take it from there.
Bespoke service
for your business
No two businesses are the same, so we start with yours rather than with a template.
Everything
quoted together.
The buildings, your liability as owner and the rent you would lose, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is commercial landlord insurance?
Commercial property carries risks residential doesn’t: your tenant’s trade drives the rating, leases often make repairs their responsibility but insurance yours, void periods run longer, and buildings with lifts or boilers carry statutory inspection duties.
Protects the building
Fire, flood, storm, escape of water and subsidence. Rebuilt to its proper cost, whoever occupies it.
Protects you as owner
A visitor injured in a communal area or because of the structure. The liability sits with you, not the tenant.
Protects the rent
If a covered loss makes the unit unusable, loss-of-rent cover keeps the income coming while it’s put right.
Who it’s for
Whatever you own.
✓
Shop & retail unit owners
High street units, parades and retail premises.
✓
Office building owners
Single offices through to multi-let office buildings.
✓
Industrial & warehouse owners
Units, yards and distribution premises.
✓
Mixed-use property owners
Flats above a shop, or residential and commercial under one roof.
✓
Retail park & estate owners
Multiple units under single ownership.
✓
Pension fund & SIPP/SSAS owners
Commercial property held within a pension arrangement.
What we cover
Cover built around your units.
We get to know your properties and tenants first, then build the policy around them.
Buildings
The structure, landlord’s fixtures, service areas, yards and car parks. The sum insured should include demolition, site clearance and professional fees. The three most often left out on older units.
Property owners’ liability
Your liability where someone is injured by the building itself. Communal stairs, a car park surface, falling masonry. Under an FRI lease the repairs may be your tenant’s; the liability is not.
Loss of rent
Pays the rent while a unit is unusable after a covered loss. Commercial reinstatement runs longer. Planning, specialist trades, statutory sign-off, so the indemnity period matters more here.
Contents & communal areas
Landlord’s fixtures, fittings and plant, plus anything in the shared parts. Your tenant’s stock and equipment are theirs to insure, and where the lease is silent that split causes arguments after a loss.
Legal expenses
Lease disputes, forfeiture, and recovering unpaid rent or service charge. Written around the lease rather than a tenancy agreement, so the triggers differ from a residential policy.
Empty periods
Commercial voids run longer than residential and unoccupancy terms bite sooner. Once a unit has been empty beyond a set period, insurers narrow the perils and add conditions. Inspections, services isolated, alarms maintained.
Terrorism
Standalone cover for terrorism damage, which standard property policies exclude. Lenders frequently require it on commercial units, and requirements are stricter in some city locations.
Engineering inspection
Lifts, hoists, boilers and pressure plant carry statutory examination duties. This arranges the competent-person inspections and covers the plant against sudden damage; where it sits in a part you control, the duty is yours.
Cyber & data
Tenant records, deposit and rent payments, and the diverted transfer that follows a convincing email.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by commercial property owners. It brings together buildings cover, property owners’ liability and loss of rent, plus legal expenses, terrorism or engineering inspection where their properties, tenants or lenders require it. It won’t suit every owner. If your risk profile is different, tell us and we’ll pick it up when we speak. Limits, exclusions and conditions are set by the insurer and depend on the property and how it is let. We’ll confirm the terms that apply to you in writing.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
Your tenant’s trade drives the rating
A cafe and a paint store in the same unit price very differently.
Longer void periods
Commercial units often sit empty longer, and unoccupancy terms bite sooner.
FRI leases
Repairs may be the tenant’s duty while insurance stays yours. The split matters.
Statutory inspections
Lifts, boilers and pressure plant carry legal inspection requirements.
Every tenant changes the risk.
A solicitor’s office and a takeaway don’t carry the same risk in the same building, so we ask different questions for each.
Shops
Retail units
Offices
Industrial units
Warehouses
Mixed-use property
Retail parks
Trade counters
Shops
Retail units
Offices
Industrial units
Warehouses
Mixed-use property
Retail parks
Trade counters
Restaurants & takeaways
Leisure premises
Storage units
Workshops
Multi-let buildings
Ground rents
SIPP/SSAS property
Vacant units
Restaurants & takeaways
Leisure premises
Storage units
Workshops
Multi-let buildings
Ground rents
SIPP/SSAS property
Vacant units
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
We ask about the tenant’s trade first
Tenant trades, lease structures, voids, statutory inspections. We go through all of it before we quote.
02
Cover that reflects your tenants
The trade in the unit drives the rating. We present it properly rather than accept a generic loading.
03
Certificates when you need them
Lenders, tenants and managing agents want proof of cover before they’ll proceed. We turn it around quickly.
04
We flag the gaps others skip
Under-insurance, unoccupancy limits, missing terrorism or engineering cover. The traps that quietly void a claim.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free commercial landlord insurance cover and cost review.
Multiple units, multiple tenants, multiple renewals? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
We go through the policy you have now, so you can see what it does and doesn’t cover against the units you own, the trades your tenants run and how each lease is written.
We point out the terms that catch commercial property owners out most often, reinstatement cost including demolition, site clearance and professional fees, and the indemnity period on loss of rent among them, so you can check yours.
We approach insurers on our panel who write property owners, and come back with what they’ll offer.
We explain each option in plain English, including what it doesn’t cover.
If it’s not a risk we can place, we’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you waiting.
No obligation to switch. You decide what fits.
Rather not wait? Call us on 0333 091 3663
Good to know
Commercial landlord questions, answered straight.
What insurance do commercial property owners need?
Does my tenant's trade affect my premium?
Who insures the building under an FRI lease?
What is engineering inspection cover, and do I need it?
What happens when a unit sits empty?
Can residential and commercial property sit on one policy?
Vara Commercial Insurance · 0333 091 3663
Vara is a trading name of Koral AI Operating Company Limited. Vara is an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd, under Firm Reference Number 1060955. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under FRN 609155. We are registered in England and Wales under Registered Company Number 17256222. Registered office: 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.