LANDLORD GUIDE
Landlord insurance renewal checklist
Renewal is the one moment each year when the policy is checked against reality. Auto-renewal skips that check and quietly carries last year's answers forward, which is how landlords end up under-insured without doing anything wrong.
Last reviewed August 2026
1. Has the occupancy changed?
Occupancy is the single biggest rating factor on a let property. A change from a working professional couple to students, a family on benefits, a short-let arrangement or multiple unrelated sharers can all move the property to a different insurer, or a different section of the same one.
If the property became an HMO, even informally, that must be declared. So must any period it sat empty for longer than the policy allows.
2. Is the buildings sum insured still right?
Buildings cover should reflect the cost to rebuild, not the market value or the price you paid. Construction costs have moved considerably in recent years, and a figure set several renewals ago is often behind.
Under-insurance can lead to a claim being scaled back proportionally, so the figure matters even for small claims, not just a total loss.
3. Does loss of rent still match the rent?
If the rent has increased since the policy started, check the loss of rent limit and the number of months it runs for. Both the amount and the period need to be realistic against a full reinstatement timeline.
4. Anything you have to declare
These are the items insurers expect to hear about and landlords routinely forget.
- Claims and incidents, even ones you paid for yourself
- Any period the property was unoccupied, and for how long
- Building works, extensions, loft or garage conversions
- A new roof, rewire, or replacement boiler
- Flood or subsidence history at the address
- A change from a single let to sharers, or vice versa
- New properties added to a portfolio
5. Check the conditions, not just the price
Landlord policies carry conditions that void or restrict cover if ignored: unoccupancy limits, minimum lock and alarm specifications, water systems drained down in winter, and inspection frequency for empty properties.
A cheaper policy with conditions you cannot realistically meet is more expensive than it looks.
6. Line up the dates
New cover should begin the moment the old policy ends. No overlap, no gap, and no assumption that a payment taken automatically means the declarations were reviewed.
Get ahead of your renewal
Tell us when your renewal falls and a UK insurance specialist calls you back before it does — usually the same working day.
Request my callback →Common questions
- When should I start looking at my landlord insurance renewal?
- About three to four weeks before the renewal date. That is long enough to review the cover properly and arrange a replacement with no gap, and most insurers will hold a start date that far ahead.
- What do I need to tell my insurer at renewal?
- Anything that has changed: tenancy type, tenant category, periods where the property was empty, works carried out, claims or incidents, and any change to the rent or the rebuild value.
- Will my landlord policy auto-renew?
- Many do. Auto-renewal is convenient but it carries forward last year's declarations, so if your circumstances changed the cover may no longer match the property.
- Does switching insurer at renewal cause problems?
- Not if the new policy starts the day the old one ends and you have declared your claims history accurately. Continuity of cover matters more than staying with the same insurer.
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General information only, written for UK readers. It is not insurance advice and does not take account of your circumstances. Cover Sorted collects your enquiry and passes it to an FCA-authorised insurance specialist. Cover Sorted does not provide quotations, comparisons or recommendations.