Does landlord insurance cover break-in or burlgary?
Find out how to make sure your property has the correct insurance cover in place
If both you as a landlord, and your tenants have worked together to protect your property from burglary, you should be covered for any damage or loss incurred.
This is why it’s so important to communicate security measures clearly to your tenants and to do everything you can to keep your property secure. It’s also why you need landlord insurance.
As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to maintain the structure and exterior of your property, including doors and windows. All entry points should close properly and seal tightly.
If your break-in was a result of a broken window or a lock that you didn’t get round to fixing, you could be held liable for negligence.
Similarly (as mentioned above), if the break-in was the result of your tenant’s failure to follow security measures, they could be liable.
With the average claim paid out for break-ins between April 2019 and April 2023 costing £3,070, this is an important question.
And the answer is, yes - so long as you have comprehensive landlord insurance, damage caused to your property through break-in, along with the theft of your possessions, can be claimed for through your building or contents insurance.
Sometimes claims can run into thousands of pounds. For example, Total Landlord paid out £38,355 to repair damage after intruders smashed the windows to break-into a property, ripping the radiators off the walls and causing water damage throughout the property.
Our highest paid claim for break in at Total Landlord was for an eye watering £80,188 in 2018.
Both Total Landlord’s Essential and Premier policies combine buildings and contents insurance and even include loss of rent and liability cover for landlords.
Building insurance will cover the physical property for the financial cost of repairing structural damage, for example a smashed window, whereas contents insurance covers the landlord’s contents such as any furniture or appliances.
One thing landlord insurance won’t cover you for is any loss of property which belongs to your tenants or any pre-existing damage.
We recommend you make this clear to your tenants before they move in.
Otherwise they may think that your insurance will cover their personal belongings and valuables.
We advise you to communicate to your tenants that this is not the case, and that the only way to protect the value of their belongings is to take out their own insurance policies.
Given the severe psychological and financial impact of break-ins on both landlords and tenants, it’s worth working together to do all you can to prevent them.
But having comprehensive landlord insurance in place provides peace of mind that should the worse happen, you are covered.
If you have any questions about underinsurance or would like to discuss landlord insurance with one of our experts, please contact the Total Landlord team on0800 63 43 880 or email enquiries@totallandlordinsurance.co.uk
