Flat Insurance
Apartment Insurance
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What is flat insurance?
Flat, or apartment insurance is a specialist type of home insurance that can be tailored to cover the unique needs of flat freeholders, leaseholders, landlords, or tenants. The type of flat insurance you’ll need largely depends on whether you own or rent the property. Understanding the right coverage to get for your situation can help protect both your property and your possessions.
What type of flat insurance do I need?
There are different types of flat insurance in the UK. And depending on your ownership or rental status, you could be responsible for insuring the building’s structure, or just your personal contents within it.
Flat buildings insurance
You’ll be responsible for taking out building insurance for a flat if you own a flat or block of flats. This is also the case if you:
- Share a freehold (commonhold) with other flat owners
- Are a freeholder leasing the flat
- Are a landlord renting to tenants
- Leaseholders could also need to take out buildings insurance on a leasehold flat if they have the ‘right to manage’ the property. If this is the case it will be clearly outlined in your lease.
Flat contents insurance
You might only need to take out contents insurance for your own personal possessions that are kept in the flat. This will apply to:
- Tenants and renters
- Flatshares and student flats
- The majority of flat leaseholders
Do I need buildings insurance for a leasehold flat?
This depends on if you have been granted the ‘right to manage’ the flat within your lease. If you are a flat leaseholder, you’ll usually only need leasehold flat insurance with contents cover.
This is because the freeholder of the flat, or block of flats will typically be responsible for the flats building insurance. They then charge the cost of this insurance premium to leaseholders through their service fees. However, this leaves room for abuse of power, as freeholders are not obligated to shop around or compare policies to find cheap apartment insurance.
The alternative, and possibly more favourable case, would be if you are granted the ‘right to manage’ the flat. This means the responsibility of getting buildings insurance is on the leaseholder, or shared among leaseholders in a block of flats.
In this case, leaseholders in apartment blocks can ensure they do not overpay by shopping around for apartment building insurance. This way you can opt for the cheapest apartment insurance policy that meets your needs.
Flat insurance coverage
What does buildings insurance cover in a flat?
Buildings insurance for flats focuses on protecting the structure of the building itself. This typically provides cover for:
- Structural damage – Damage to walls, roofs, and floors caused by insured events like fire, flooding, storms, and vandalism.
- Permanent fixtures – Fixtures like kitchen units, bathroom fittings, and built-in wardrobes.
- Shared areas – For blocks of flats, communal areas like hallways, staircases, and gardens are protected.
- Liability cover – This protects against claims from third parties who are injured on the property.
- Landlord responsibilities – Landlord flat insurance with buildings cover ensures that you are covered for damages to the building that could affect your tenants or your rental income.
What does contents insurance cover in a flat?
Flat contents insurance, or flat insurance for tenants protects your personal belongings within a flat and typically covers:
- Personal possessions – This cover can help replace furniture, appliances, electronics, clothing, and other items if they are damaged or stolen.
- Theft and burglary – You can get financial compensation for loss from a break in.
- Fire and water damage: Covers losses from fire, flooding, or water damage like burst pipes.
- Accidental damage – You can add this cover for damage caused by accidents like spilling liquid on your laptop.
- High value items – Content policies will have limits on the amount they will pay for individual items. But you can add additional coverage limits for high value items like artwork or electronics.
How much is flat insurance?
The cost of flat insurance in the UK will vary depending on a number of factors. The main one, of course, is whether you need flat contents insurance, or flat building insurance.
At Quotezone, we’ve done the research to give you an idea of home insurance costs, and how these have trended in the past year. Here’s a comparison of the average home insurance cost for different property types in the UK:
| UK Property Type | Average Annual Home Insurance Cost Q1 2023 | Average Annual Home Insurance Cost Q1 2024 | Annual % Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £270.67 | £394.86 | 46% |
| Semi-Detached | £180.55 | £255.09 | 41% |
| Terraced | £166.91 | £227.88 | 37% |
| Apartment | £66.39 | £80.39 | 21% |
Factors that impact flat insurance premiums
As well as the type of flat insurance you need, there are other factors that insurers will use to determine the cost of your apartment insurance. These will all indicate what level of risk you pose to the insurer, and include:
- Your location which indicates your flat’s flood and theft risk
- The type of flat, whether it is high-rise or in a converted house
- The security features of the flat and building
- The rebuild cost of the flat if you are taking out buildings insurance
- The value of the contents in your flat if you are taking out contents insurance
- The excess you choose on your flat insurance
- Your home insurance claims history
How to lower the cost of your flat insurance
Some of the measures you can take to get cheap flat insurance quotes will focus on reducing your risk to the insurer. Consider the following tips:
- Increase your voluntary excess – Choosing a higher excess can lower your monthly premium as it means insurers have less to cover when you make a claim.
- Install security features – Options for this can be more limited if you are taking out apartment renters insurance. However, things like improved locks, burglar alarms, or CCTV could help reduce your premiums.
- Be accurate when giving building rebuild and contents values – Over-insuring can lead to higher premiums, so make sure your valuations are accurate.
- Compare quotes – Using a comparison website like Quotezone could help you find cheaper deals on flat insurance.
Compare cheap flat insurance quotes
Comparing a wide range of flat insurance quotes helps you make informed insurance decisions, so you don’t pay more than you need to. With Quotezone, you can easily compare quotes from up to 40 leading UK home insurers, getting, coverage at a competitive price and tailored to your specific needs.
Flat insurance FAQs
Do I need flat insurance if I’m renting?
Can I get insurance if I live in a shared flat?
Do you need both contents and buildings insurance for a flat?
What is the difference between flat insurance and apartment insurance?
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*51% of consumers could save £209.33 on their Home Building & Contents Insurance. The saving was calculated by comparing the cheapest price found with the average of the next fourteen cheapest prices quoted by insurance providers on Seopa Ltd’s insurance comparison website. This is based on representative cost savings from December 2024. The savings you could achieve are dependent on your individual circumstances.