Landlord Insurance Ireland: What It Covers and What It Costs

What is landlord insurance in Ireland?

Landlord insurance in Ireland is a property policy written for a home you rent out rather than live in. It normally combines cover for the building itself, cover for the fixtures, fittings and any furniture you supply, property owners liability if a tenant or visitor is injured, and loss of rent if the property becomes uninhabitable after an insured event. Ordinary home insurance is written for an owner occupier and is generally not designed for a let property.

Is landlord insurance a legal requirement in Ireland?

There is no Irish law that forces a landlord to hold insurance in the way that motor insurance is compulsory for a car on a public road. In practice, though, most landlords end up holding a policy for two reasons.

The first is the lender. If the property carries a buy to let mortgage, the loan conditions will almost always require buildings insurance to be in force, with the lender noted on the policy. The second is exposure. A landlord who owns the building carries the cost of rebuilding it, and carries a duty of care to anyone lawfully on the premises. Without cover, both of those sit entirely on the landlord.

Separately from insurance, residential tenancies in Ireland generally have to be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. That is a tenancy law obligation rather than an insurance one, but insurers frequently ask about it, and some policies expect the letting to be properly documented and compliant. If you are unsure where your tenancy stands, check it before you buy cover rather than after a claim.

What does a landlord insurance policy usually cover?

Wordings vary by insurer, so the table below is a general guide to how these policies are typically built rather than a description of any one product.

Cover element	What it typically does	Usual status
Buildings	Rebuilding or repairing the structure after fire, storm, flood, escape of water, impact and similar insured events	Core
Landlord contents	Furniture, white goods, carpets, curtains and fittings that you supply, not the tenant’s own belongings	Core or optional, depending on whether the let is furnished
Property owners liability	Compensation and legal costs if a tenant, visitor or passer by is injured or has property damaged because of the premises	Core
Loss of rent and alternative accommodation	Rent lost, and sometimes rehousing costs, while the property cannot be lived in after an insured event	Usually included, often capped
Property owners legal expenses	Legal costs for certain disputes connected with the property	Commonly optional
Home emergency assistance	Call out and make safe for sudden problems such as a burst pipe or a failed boiler	Commonly optional
Malicious damage by tenants	Deliberate damage caused by the people living in the property	Restricted or excluded on many wordings, sometimes buyable

What is normally excluded?

The exclusions matter more on a let property than on an owner occupied home, because a landlord is not there day to day. Watch for these in particular:

• Wear and tear, gradual deterioration and poor maintenance. Insurance responds to sudden accidental events, not to a roof that has been failing for years.
• The tenant’s own possessions. Those are for the tenant to insure under their own contents policy.
• Unoccupancy beyond a stated period. Most policies restrict cover once a property is empty for longer than the wording allows, typically after a set number of consecutive days between tenancies. Tell your insurer when a property falls vacant.
• Rent arrears. A tenant who stops paying is a tenancy issue, not an insured peril. Loss of rent cover responds to physical damage, not to non payment.
• Undeclared occupancy. If the property is let to a category of tenant the insurer did not agree to, or used for short term letting when the policy assumed a standard tenancy, a claim can be affected.

How much does landlord insurance cost in Ireland?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is guessing. Landlord premiums are priced property by property, and two houses on the same street can price very differently once rebuild cost, construction type, claims history and letting arrangements are taken into account.

What pushes a landlord premium up or down?

• The rebuild sum insured. This is usually the single biggest driver, and it is not the market value or the price you paid.
• Location and flood or subsidence exposure.
• Construction and age. Non standard construction, thatch, and older properties without modern wiring or heating tend to price higher.
• Type of letting. A standard long term residential tenancy is treated differently from student lets, bedsit style multiple occupancy, holiday letting or social housing arrangements.
• Claims history on the property and on the landlord.
• Security, alarms, and how quickly problems get reported.
• Number of properties, since several units can sometimes go on one portfolio policy.

How do you work out the right rebuild figure?

The rebuild sum insured is the cost of clearing the site and rebuilding the property to its current standard, including professional fees. It is a construction figure, not a market figure, and the two can differ sharply in either direction.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland publishes a house rebuilding cost guide that gives indicative rates by region and property type, and it is the usual starting point for a straightforward house. For anything unusual, a period property, a converted building, or a property with non standard construction, a surveyor’s assessment is the safer route.

Getting this wrong has a real consequence. If the sum insured is materially below the true rebuild cost, an insurer may apply average, which means settling a partial loss in the same proportion that the property was underinsured. Building costs have moved a good deal in recent years, so a figure set when the property was bought is worth revisiting at each renewal.

Do you need landlord insurance for an apartment?

Usually not for the structure. In most Irish apartment developments the owners management company insures the block under a single block policy, funded through the service charge, so buying separate buildings cover would duplicate it.

What the block policy generally does not cover is the inside of your unit. Your fixtures, fittings, kitchen, flooring, any furniture you supplied, plus your own liability as the owner of that unit and your loss of rent, normally need a landlord contents style policy. Ask the management company for the block policy summary so you can see exactly where its cover stops.

What happens if you let a house on ordinary home insurance?

This is the most common and most expensive mistake landlords make. A standard home insurance policy is issued on the basis that the owner lives there. Once the property is let and the insurer has not been told, the policy no longer reflects the risk it was priced for.

The practical result is that a claim can be reduced or declined, and the liability section, the part that matters most if a tenant is injured, may not respond at all. Under the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 consumers are asked specific questions rather than expected to volunteer everything, but a change of occupancy is exactly the kind of material change an insurer expects to hear about. If you move out and let your former home, even to family, tell your insurer and move to the right product.

The bottom line

Landlord insurance is not compulsory in Ireland, but a let property sits outside what an ordinary home policy was written to cover, and lenders normally insist on buildings cover anyway. Build the policy around an accurate rebuild figure, check how loss of rent, unoccupancy and malicious damage are treated, and tell the insurer honestly what kind of letting it is. For an apartment, start with the block policy and insure what it leaves out. Review the sum insured every renewal rather than rolling it forward.

Breeze Insurance is an Irish insurance broker working with a panel of leading Irish insurers, and we can look at how a rental property is currently covered and where the gaps sit. Give us a call on 0818 700 300 or request a quote online and we will talk it through. You can also read our guides to business insurance and home insurance.

Frequently asked questions

Is landlord insurance compulsory in Ireland?

No, there is no legal requirement to hold it. However, if the property has a buy to let mortgage, the lender will normally require buildings insurance as a condition of the loan, and most landlords hold cover because the rebuild cost and the liability exposure fall on them otherwise.

Does landlord insurance cover unpaid rent?

Generally no. Loss of rent cover applies when the property cannot be lived in following an insured event such as a fire or a flood. A tenant who simply stops paying is a tenancy matter dealt with through the Residential Tenancies Board process, not an insurance claim, unless you have bought a specific rent protection product.

Does landlord insurance cover damage caused by tenants?

Accidental damage and deliberate damage are treated differently, and both are handled inconsistently across the market. Many wordings restrict or exclude malicious damage by tenants, and some offer it as an add on with conditions attached, such as tenant referencing or a deposit being held. Check this specifically before you assume you have it.

Do I need landlord insurance if I rent out a room in my own home?

If you live in the property and take in a lodger, you usually stay on a home insurance policy, but you still need to tell your insurer. Some insurers accept it, some restrict theft cover where there is no forced entry, and some will not accept it at all. It is a short conversation that protects the whole policy.

What is the difference between landlord insurance and home insurance?

Home insurance assumes the owner occupies the property. Landlord insurance assumes someone else lives there, so it adds property owners liability aimed at tenants and visitors, loss of rent, and cover for landlord supplied contents, while treating the tenant’s own belongings as their responsibility.

What is the sum insured on a landlord policy?

It is the cost of rebuilding the property, including site clearance and professional fees, not its market value or purchase price. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland rebuilding cost guide is the usual reference point for a standard house, and a surveyor is worth using for anything unusual or older.

Breeze Insurance Ltd. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered in the Republic of Ireland with registration number 109879 and registered address at 38/39 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2, D02 NX53. Director: Colin Long.