How to protect your liabilities as a landlord with Landlord Liability Insurance

Last updated: 07/06/2023
2 min read

As a landlord, you have a responsibility to maintain your property and its grounds. If a tenant, visitor or third party were to be injured or incur damage to their personal belongings on your property, they could sue for negligence.

Thankfully, there is a way to protect yourself from such claims: Landlord Liability Insurance.

This form of cover is often an in-built feature of overarching Landlord Insurance and is typically included as standard in Landlord Buildings Insurance and Landlord Contents Insurance policies.

The upshot is that should the worst-case scenario occur on your property, you will be financially protected. In the current climate, with many landlord budgets stretched to the limit, this reassurance can be invaluable.

What is Landlord Liability Insurance?

Landlord Liability Insurance is a type of insurance coverage designed to protect you as a landlord from financial losses arising from liability claims made against you by tenants, visitors, or third parties.

This insurance typically covers legal expenses, medical costs, and damages awarded in legal cases related to bodily injury or property damage that might occur on your property.

For example, if a tenant or visitor slips and falls on the rental property and sues you for negligence, Landlord Liability Insurance can help cover the legal fees and any damages awarded to the injured party.

Similarly, if a tenant's personal property is damaged due to your negligence (such as faulty wiring causing a fire), the insurance may cover the costs of replacing damaged items.

It's important to note that this type of insurance typically doesn't cover damages to your own property, such as the building itself. This would be covered under an overarching Landlord Insurance policy.

Landlord Liability Insurance is crucial if you want to protect yourself financially in case of unforeseen accidents or incidents on your rental properties.

What does Landlord Liability Insurance cover?

Landlord Liability Insurance typically covers financial losses due to tenant injuries or property damage caused by negligence on your part, the landlord. Here's a breakdown of the main areas covered:

Compensation

If a tenant, visitor, or someone working on the property gets injured due to a faulty condition you were responsible for maintaining (like a broken step), the insurance can cover the injured party's medical expenses.

The insurance may also cover compensation for lost income if the injury prevents the claimant from working.

Legal fees

If legal action is filed against you due to an injury or damage whilst on your property, the insurance can help cover your legal defence costs.

Situations typically covered by Landlord Liability Insurance

Here are some specific examples of situations typically covered by this form of insurance:

Trips and falls: A tenant trips on a broken step or loose flooring and gets hurt due to your lack of maintenance.
Water leaks: A faulty pipe bursts due to neglected maintenance, damaging the tenant's belongings or causing mould growth.
Fire damage: An electrical issue you failed to address starts a fire, injuring a tenant or damaging the property.

Injuries from common areas: A visitor slips and falls on ice in a walkway you're responsible for clearing but neglected to de-ice.

What doesn’t Landlord Liability Insurance cover?

It's important to remember that Landlord Liability Insurance typically excludes certain things. For example, if a tenant spills something that ruins a carpet, that ordinarily wouldn't be covered.

As this type of cover focuses on negligence-related injuries, it also won’t cover things like damage to the building itself. This would be covered by the overarching Landlord Insurance policy, ensuring all bases are covered.

This type of insurance won't protect you if you intentionally cause harm to someone or their property, either.

How much Landlord Liability Insurance do I need?

The amount of coverage you need depends on several factors, but experts generally recommend opting for a minimum of £5 million of cover. Here are several considerations to bear in mind:

Legal costs: Medical bills and legal fees can be very expensive, especially if the injury is severe. Having a higher coverage amount ensures you're protected even in a worst-case scenario.

Number of units: If you own a multi-unit building, the risk of incidents increases. In this case, more coverage might be advisable.

Get covered today with HomeLet

At HomeLet, we include Landlord Liability cover as standard with all our Landlord Contents and Landlord Buildings Insurance policies. Our liability cover can include the following: