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What exactly is landlord insurance for lodgers?

Landlord insurance for lodgers is a common things with the global economy going through a challenging phase. Many tenants have to adapt to the circumstances to make ends meet and keeping a roof over their heads.

• As you know, a common solution for those who need a bit of a financial boost involves renting out spare rooms in their homes to temporary or even long-term lodgers.

• While this is an increasingly normal situation, it isn’t entirely free of conflicts and troublesome issues… all of which can typically be mitigated with a good landlord insurance for tenants and lodgers.

Depending on your provider, this type of insurance can sometimes be amended to an existing home insurance, although you may be required to switch providers. In any case, it’s a crucial consideration that will make your life much easier, if you plan to get a lodger.

Read through the following sections for a clearer view of what is landlord insurance for spare rooms and lodgers, and what exactly it entails.

Things to keep in mind before applying for a landlord insurance for lodgers

In order to be allowed to get a landlord insurance for lodgers, you first have to make sure you are effectively entitled to legally rent out a room.

• If you are the owner of the house, then you absolutely have this right and you may proceed to reach out to your insurance agency without consulting third parties.


• In case you’re either leasing your house or have a tenancy agreement in place, the matter is not as straightforward - and you essentially have to check with the owner of the property before accepting a lodger.

• Failing to do so, you could succeed in getting a landlord insurance to cover lodgers… but in the event there are complications that would merit compensations, your insurance provider may refuse to cover the claims.

The only exception is when you already have a tenancy agreement or a lease contract in place that specifically states you are allowed to sublet.

• When this clause is not specifically mentioned, you have no choice but to reach out to your landword and ask for permission to get a lodger.

• Without having permission from the owner, you will be unlikely to succeed renting a room legally, which means you won’t have access to a legally binding landlord insurance.

Understanding the difference between a tenant and a lodger

The distinction between a tenant and a lodger is not immediately clear for everyone, but it must be clarified in this context since both concepts have different legal statuses. So how do you tell the difference?

Simply put, you only have a lodger if you are renting a room with shared access to the house where you actually live as your main residence.

In any other situations where you either rent a separate house or a separate, self-contained section of your main residence (with no shared living spaces asides from hallways) - then you have a tenant and you will need a full-fledged landlord insurance, rather than a landlord insurance for lodgers.

Why it’s absolutely essential to get landlord insurance for lodgers

Asides from the obvious reasons for getting landlord insurance with lodger cover, there is something important to keep in mind:

• If you take in a lodger and your current home insurance does not make provisions for such an arrangement, the insurance provider could state your existing policy is invalid in case you place a claim.


• In other words, failing to mention you have a lodger could void your existing home insurance, which could be very troublesome indeed.

When you ask your insurance provider to update your existing insurance policy to reflect your lodging activities, one of four arrangements will normally take place: either they will refuse to provide cover, or they will increase your premium, or they will request extra liability, or otherwise reasonable exclusions will be added to your existing home insurance.

If you need landlord insurance for lodgers, compare quote with Britain's best landlord insurance.

Go to the UKLI Compare homepage to learn.

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