What is accidental damage insurance?

Accidental damage insurance can protect your property and contents against one-off incidents like spillages or breakages. Accidental damage insurance can be added to your landlord insurance policy to cover the repair or replacement cost if you, a tenant or a visitor accidentally damages something.

You will usually buy landlord accidental damage insurance alongside your landlord buildings insurance and landlords contents insurance.

When you’re buying this insurance, you need to estimate the rebuild value of your property and the replacement value of your contents as accurately as possible, so that you’re fully covered if you come to make a claim.

What does accidental damage insurance cover?

Accidental damage insurance can cover the cost of repairing or replacing your property or contents.

It could cover the cost of replacing your carpet if a tenant spilt red wine over it, for example, or the cost of repairing a wall if you damaged it while putting up shelves.

It won’t cover gradual wear and tear over time, and it also doesn’t cover items belonging to your tenants.

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Do I need accidental damage insurance?

Some landlord insurance policies cover accidental damage under the buildings and contents part of the policy, so you may not need to buy separate accidental damage insurance. Check your policy documents if you’re not sure.

You may think you don’t need accidental damage insurance because the damage deposit you’ve taken from your tenants could cover the cost of any damage. But remember that it’s likely you won’t be able to access this money until your tenants move out, and also the cost of repair or replacement may be higher than the damage deposit.