Insurance for residential landlords.
Buildings, liability and loss of rent for everything from a single buy-to-let to a portfolio of HMOs, placed by a broker who knows how tenancy type changes the risk.
Residential landlord insurance
Usually includes
Buildings
Property owners’ liability
Loss of rent
Landlord contents
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 residential landlord insurance?
Home insurance won’t cover a property you let out. Residential landlord insurance protects the building, your liability as owner, and the rent you’d lose if the property became uninhabitable, with terms that shift depending on who your tenants are and how the property is let.
Protects the building
Fire, flood, storm, escape of water, subsidence and malicious damage. Rebuilt to its proper cost, not its market value.
Protects you as owner
If a tenant or visitor is injured because of the property, the liability claim comes to you. This is where it lands.
Protects the rent
If a covered loss makes the property uninhabitable, loss-of-rent cover keeps the income coming while it’s put right.
Who it’s for
Whatever you let.
✓
New to letting
Letting out one property. An inherited house, a former home, a first buy-to-let.
✓
Portfolio landlords
Several properties, several tenancies, and too many renewal dates to track.
✓
HMO & student landlords
Higher occupancy, higher scrutiny, and licensing conditions to meet.
✓
Ltd company & SPV landlords
Holding residential property through a company, with directors’ exposure to match.
✓
Freeholders & block owners
Responsible for the structure, communal areas and everyone in them.
✓
Serviced & holiday let owners
Short-term lets, with higher turnover and different occupancy patterns.
What we cover
Cover built around your properties.
We get to know your properties and tenancies first, then build the policy around them.
Buildings
The structure, landlord’s fixtures, communal areas, boundary walls and outbuildings. The sum insured is rebuild cost, not market value. In some areas rebuilding costs more than the property would sell for.
Property owners’ liability
Your liability as owner if a tenant, visitor or contractor is injured because of the building. It follows the parts you are responsible for. Roof, structure, stairs, communal areas.
Loss of rent
Pays the rent you would have received while a covered loss makes the property uninhabitable. Usually a percentage of the buildings sum insured, which catches people out on higher-yield lets.
Landlord contents
Carpets, curtains, white goods and furniture in a furnished let, plus communal areas. Your items, not your tenant’s. Furnished, part-furnished and unfurnished lets are all treated differently.
Legal expenses
Possession proceedings, tenancy disputes and recovering unpaid rent. Rent guarantee, which pays the rent itself rather than the cost of chasing it. Is a separate thing, not always included.
Empty periods
Between tenancies, during refurbishment, or while a property is being sold. Cover usually narrows once a property has been empty beyond a set number of days, with conditions on inspections and draining down.
Terrorism
Standalone cover for terrorism damage, which standard property policies exclude. Lenders commonly require it on blocks of flats, and it is the cover most often missed on a portfolio.
Directors’ & officers’
For property held through a limited company or an SPV. Covers claims against you personally as a director. Breach of duty, health and safety, regulatory investigations, which a property policy does not reach.
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 residential landlords. It brings together buildings cover, property owners’ liability and loss of rent, plus contents, legal expenses or terrorism cover where their properties or lenders require it. It won’t suit every landlord. 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.
Rebuild cost, not market value
Under-insuring the building can cut every claim you make.
Unoccupancy limits
Most policies restrict cover once a property is empty beyond a set period.
HMO & licensing conditions
Higher occupancy brings licensing requirements that affect terms.
Tenant type
Students, DSS and short-term lets are all rated differently by insurers.
Every tenancy has its own risks.
A family buy-to-let and a six-bed student HMO don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Single buy-to-lets
Portfolio landlords
HMOs
Student lets
Blocks of flats
Freeholders
Ltd company landlords
SPV portfolios
Single buy-to-lets
Portfolio landlords
HMOs
Student lets
Blocks of flats
Freeholders
Ltd company landlords
SPV portfolios
Serviced accommodation
Holiday lets
Social housing
DSS lets
Furnished lets
Unfurnished lets
New-build lets
Period property
Serviced accommodation
Holiday lets
Social housing
DSS lets
Furnished lets
Unfurnished lets
New-build lets
Period property
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
We ask about the tenancy type first
Rebuild values, tenancy types, unoccupancy, lender conditions. We go through all of it before we quote.
02
One conversation, whole portfolio
Every property in a single chat, on one policy and one renewal date. Not a separate scramble per door.
03
Certificates when you need them
Lenders 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 cover on blocks. The traps that quietly void a claim.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free residential landlord insurance cover and cost review.
Five properties, five policies, five renewal dates? 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 properties you hold, who your tenants are and how each one is let.
We point out the terms that catch landlords out most often, rebuild cost against market value and unoccupancy conditions 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
Residential landlord questions, answered straight.
What insurance do residential landlords need?
Buildings cover. Market value or rebuild cost?
Are my tenants' belongings covered?
Does letting to students or on benefits change my cover?
What happens when a property 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.