Join over 315,000 property owners like you with cover from £9.53 per month*
Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes
A gap between tenants, renovation works, or waiting to sell your rental property? Unoccupied property insurance can keep you covered against owners’ liability risks – for example, if some old brickwork fell and caused an injury – as well as damage to your empty building, contents, and certain legal expenses and emergencies, like a plumbing issue.
Need insurance for an unoccupied commercial property? We provide cover for empty shops, offices, studios, and all sorts of business types. Just start a quote and tell us about your property.
Empty property insurance – also known as ‘unoccupied house insurance’ – is designed to cover liability costs if your empty property is blamed for an injury or property damage, plus certain legal costs. It can also cover damage to your building and contents.
Property owners’ liability insurance
In case you’re legally responsible for injuries or property damage, as owner of the building.
Buildings insurance
In case disaster hits and your unoccupied property gets damaged.
Landlords’ contents insurance
In case disaster hits and your contents get damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you face legal costs in connection with your unoccupied property.
In case you’re legally responsible for injuries or property damage, as owner of the building.
What's typically covered by property owners’ liability insurance?
For example:
In case disaster hits and your unoccupied property gets damaged.
What's typically covered by buildings insurance?
For example:
What you’ll need additional cover for
In case disaster hits and your contents get damaged.
What's typically covered by buildings insurance?
For example:
In case you face legal costs in connection with your unoccupied property.
What's typically covered by buildings insurance?
For example:
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
*How we work out example prices 10% of our customers paid up to £114.35 a year for a landlord buildings cover only policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £9.53 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Only pay for what you need
Choose the best fit for you
Get your documents the same day
Simply Business
Direct to
insurer
Highstreet
broker
Compare policies from a range of trusted insurers
Buy online or over the phone in minutes
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 315,000 landlord customers now trusting us to provide their insurance.
Compare and buy in minutes
Documents arrive today
Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
Here to help
Help from UK-based experts
24/7 claims
Make a claim any time
Whether you’re new to buying landlord insurance or you’ve been letting your property for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about landlords’ insurance. You can also check out our landlord insurance FAQs.
If your property is unoccupied for a period of 30 days or more, it’s often classed as ‘unoccupied’, or vacant – depending on the vacancy period defined by your insurer. Whether it’s due to renovation work, in a sale chain or between rental agreements, specific risks do come with vacant properties, so unoccupied house insurance, or cover for a flat or commercial property, is a popular landlord cover.
Our tailored unoccupied property insurance policies can cover common incidents like fire, lightning or explosion damage, or earthquake and aerial incidents, as well as your own liability as the owner, for third party damage or injury caused by your vacant property.
This will depend on your specific circumstances, the type of empty property you’re insuring and various other factors. Right now, our landlord policy prices start from £9.53 per month.
To work this out, 10% of our customers paid up to £114.35 a year for a landlord buildings cover only policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £9.53 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Home insurance is required when you want to insure the home you’re living in against accidental loss or damage.
Landlord insurance is different – it’s required when you own a property that you rent out to a third party, and don’t live in yourself. It covers different insurance risks from a home policy, taking into account the type of tenant you rent to and how long you’ve owned the property. It also allows you to insure the property and protect yourself against things like loss of rental income, and malicious damage caused by your tenants.
You aren’t legally required to take out a specific landlord policy, but remember – a conventional home insurance policy won’t cover you for rental activities, and a mortgage lender will usually demand you have specific landlord cover in place, before you let your property.
Popular covers include property owners’ liability and contents insurance, for accidents on your property, plus buildings cover to protect the property itself.
You can add a range of other important covers to your landlord insurance policy, all while keeping it simple with a single premium and a single renewal date. You might consider these covers:
As we’ve outlined above, there’s currently no legal obligation to take out a dedicated landlord insurance policy. However, a home insurance policy won’t cover you for the specific risks you and your tenants face, and a mortgage lender will usually require you to have buy-to-let insurance in place too, before renting out your property.
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions.
Keep up to date with Simply Business. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and follow us on social media.
Subscribe to our newsletter6th Floor99 Gresham StreetLondonEC2V 7NG
Sol House29 St Katherine's StreetNorthamptonNN1 2QZ
© Copyright 2023 Simply Business. All Rights Reserved. Simply Business is a trading name of Xbridge Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Registration No: 313348). Xbridge Limited (No: 3967717) has its registered office at 6th Floor, 99 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NG.