Property portfolio insurance

Property portfolio insurance is a single policy that covers several properties owned by the same landlord or investor, rather than a separate policy for each address. A portfolio can bring together residential lets, houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), commercial units, mixed-use premises and blocks of flats under one schedule, one renewal date and one point of contact. For owners running more than a handful of properties, that consolidation makes cover easier to manage and easier to review as the portfolio grows or changes. Apex arranges portfolio cover placed by a named broker who will work to present the whole risk properly to insurers who understand property owners’ business.

What a portfolio policy covers

A property owners’ portfolio policy is built from a core set of covers, applied across every property on the schedule and adjusted to reflect each one. The main elements are:

• Buildings on a full reinstatement basis — cover is set to the cost of rebuilding each property, including demolition, site clearance and professional fees, not its market or sale value. This is the figure a claim is measured against.
• Property owners’ liability — protection against your legal liability to tenants, visitors and the public for injury or damage arising from the properties you own, commonly arranged at a limit of £5m–£10m.
• Loss of rent and alternative accommodation — if an insured event such as a fire or flood makes a property uninhabitable, cover can respond to lost rental income and, where relevant, the cost of rehousing tenants while repairs are carried out.
• Optional covers — depending on the portfolio, these can include accidental damage, malicious damage by tenants, subsidence, terrorism, and engineering inspection cover for lifts and lifting equipment where a property has them.

Why sums insured and underinsurance matter

Underinsurance is the single biggest pitfall for portfolio owners, and it usually stems from confusing rebuild cost with market value. The rebuild cost is what it would take to demolish and reconstruct the property, and it can be higher or lower than what the property would sell for. Setting a sum insured to the market value — or to an outdated figure — leaves the buildings underinsured against the cost of actually rebuilding.

This matters because most buildings policies contain a condition of average (the average clause). If the sum insured is found to be lower than the true reinstatement cost at the time of a claim, the insurer can reduce the payment in proportion to the shortfall. For example, if a property is insured for only three-quarters of its rebuild cost, a claim settlement can be cut by roughly a quarter — even on a partial loss.

Index-linking helps by adjusting sums insured in line with a building-cost index through the year, and some policies offer a day-one uplift, where you declare an accurate current rebuild figure and the policy adds an agreed percentage of headroom. Neither replaces a proper valuation. A periodic professional reinstatement cost assessment across the portfolio is the most reliable way to keep sums insured realistic.

Unoccupied and void properties

Empty properties carry a different risk profile — undetected escape of water, vandalism, squatting and delayed discovery of damage — so most policies impose conditions when a unit is unoccupied. Commonly these include periodic inspections, draining down water and heating services, securing the property and clearing combustible material.

Cover is also frequently restricted once a property has been empty beyond a set period. Policies typically reduce to a limited set of perils after something like 30 or 45 days of continuous vacancy, though the exact trigger and terms vary by insurer. Because portfolios naturally see voids between tenancies, it is important to declare unoccupancy to your broker rather than assume full cover continues. Telling us promptly when a unit falls vacant lets us confirm the terms that apply and, where needed, arrange specific unoccupied property cover.

Mixed tenants and property types

A portfolio’s terms are shaped by who occupies the properties and how they are used. Insurers assess each tenancy type differently:

• Standard residential lets — assured shorthold tenancies to professional or family tenants are generally the most straightforward to place.
• HMOs and student lets — houses in multiple occupation carry additional fire and liability considerations, and larger HMOs require a licence from the local authority. Licensing status and room numbers are relevant to underwriting.
• DSS and benefit tenancies — some insurers apply different terms for tenants in receipt of housing benefit or universal credit; this should be disclosed rather than left unsaid.
• Commercial units — the trade of the occupying business and the strength of the tenant covenant (their financial standing and lease commitment) affect terms, as do periods when a unit is vacant.
• Mixed-use premises — a shop or office with flats above combines residential and commercial exposures in one building and needs to be described accurately.

Full disclosure of the tenant mix lets us present the portfolio properly and reduces the risk of a term being missed.

Blocks of flats and the Building Safety Act

Where a portfolio includes a block of flats, the freeholder, right-to-manage company or resident management company usually arranges buildings insurance for the whole structure, with the cost recovered through the service charge. Blocks bring their own considerations: communal areas, shared systems, and the way liability is split between the block owner and individual leaseholders.

Building safety has reshaped this area. The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new duties and disclosure requirements for higher-risk and multi-occupied residential buildings, and cladding and external wall assessments — including the EWS1 process — have affected the availability, terms and pricing of buildings insurance for some blocks. Where a block has known cladding or fire-safety issues, insurers will generally want to see the relevant assessments and remediation status. This is a specialised and evolving area, and each block should be reviewed individually so the right information is presented to underwriters.

How cover is arranged for a portfolio

Portfolio cover is typically arranged on a schedule or declaration basis: each property is listed with its address, construction, use, tenancy type and sum insured, and the policy applies its terms across the whole schedule. Common features include:

• A single renewal date for the whole portfolio, replacing a scatter of individual policy anniversaries.
• Blanket or declared sums insured — some policies aggregate values across properties, while others hold a specified sum insured for each; either way the total needs to reflect full rebuild costs.
• Adding and removing properties mid-term — as you buy, sell or change the use of a property, the schedule can be amended and the premium adjusted, so cover keeps pace with the portfolio.
• One point of contact — a named broker who holds the whole picture, rather than separate conversations for each address.

How Apex helps

We start by reviewing the whole portfolio — the properties, tenancy types, sums insured, void positions and any blocks or mixed-use premises — so the risk is presented to insurers accurately and in full. As a directly FCA-authorised broker (FRN 724952) with access to over 30 markets including Lloyd’s via wholesale, we can approach insurers who understand property owners’ business.

You deal with a named broker who stays with the portfolio from the first conversation through to renewal, and who is there when a property is added, a unit falls vacant or a claim arises. We will talk through sums insured, underinsurance and the conditions that attach to unoccupied properties, so you understand the terms before you commit. Cover and terms are subject to underwriter assessment and the policy wording.

Frequently asked

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