Scope: England and Wales. Insurance is contract rather than statute so your policy governs — this is the process and the evidence, not a reading of your wording. Verified against the legislation on 14 August 2026.
What landlord cover actually includes is a separate question. This is what to do when something has happened, and the order matters more than most landlords expect.
First, the unwelcome arithmetic
Most tenant damage is not an insurance matter at all. Between the excess and the effect of a claim on future premiums, a great deal of damage is cheaper to absorb or to recover from the deposit.
And malicious damage by tenants is commonly excluded as standard, available only as an add-on. Check whether you have it before you need it, because discovering the exclusion during a claim is the expensive way.
The first 48 hours
- Make it safe and stop it getting worse. Every policy requires you to mitigate; failing to can reduce or defeat a claim. Turn the water off, board the window.
- Photograph everything before you touch it, wide and close, with dates. This is the evidence the whole claim turns on.
- Do not throw damaged items away. Insurers may want to inspect, and disposal is a common reason for a reduced settlement.
- Notify the insurer promptly — policies impose time limits and late notification is a standard ground for declining.
- Report criminal damage to the police and get a crime reference. Malicious damage cover almost always requires one.
- Get quotes, not opinions. Two written quotes from contractors beat an estimate.
What actually gets claims declined
Rarely the headline cover. Usually one of:
- Late notification.
- Unoccupancy. Most policies restrict cover after a property has been empty for a set period — a live risk between tenancies, covered in void periods.
- Undisclosed occupancy type. Letting to students, sharers, or on a rent-to-rent or company let basis when the policy was written for a single family.
- An undeclared HMO.
- Wear and tear, or gradual deterioration — never insured, and the label an insurer reaches for.
- A known defect you were told about and did not fix. This is where insurance meets your repairing duty: an insurer will decline damage that flowed from a repair you were warned about, and the tenant's report is the evidence against you.
The deposit and the insurer: you cannot use both
The trap. You cannot recover the same loss twice, and attempting to is at best a reduced settlement and at worst a fraud allegation.
How it plays out sensibly:
- Damage below the excess — recover from the deposit, using the inventory and check-out. See deductions that stand up.
- Damage well above it — claim, and if you also deduct from the deposit, deduct only the excess and say so.
- Tell the adjudicator what you are doing. A deposit claim for a loss the insurer has paid will fail, and it damages the credibility of everything else you claim.
The scheme decides on the papers, so the paperwork has to be consistent across both routes.
Evidence that survives six months
A claim and a deposit dispute are both decided later, by someone who was not there:
- A dated, signed inventory with photographs at check-in — without it, you cannot show the damage is new.
- A check-out in the same format.
- Original photographs with metadata, not screenshots.
- Invoices for work done, not estimates of work you might do.
- The repair reporting trail — see record keeping.
Rent guarantee is a different product
Rent guarantee is not damage cover and is heavily conditional: referencing to the insurer's standard, a properly granted tenancy, and prompt compliance with the arrears process. Miss the notice deadlines and the policy that was going to cover you often will not.
Run the free compliance check for the duties on your property.
Common questions
Should I claim on insurance for tenant damage?
Often not. Between the excess and the effect on future premiums, a great deal of tenant damage is cheaper to absorb or recover from the deposit. Malicious damage by tenants is also commonly excluded as standard and available only as an add-on — so check whether you have it before you need it rather than during a claim.
Can I claim from the insurer and the deposit for the same damage?
No. You cannot recover the same loss twice, and attempting it is at best a reduced settlement and at worst a fraud allegation. The sensible split is to recover below-excess damage from the deposit, and where you claim on a larger loss, deduct only the excess from the deposit and say so clearly to the adjudicator.
Why do landlord insurance claims get declined?
Rarely on the headline cover. Usually late notification, unoccupancy after a property has been empty beyond the policy period, an undisclosed occupancy type such as students, sharers, a company let or an undeclared HMO, wear and tear, or damage that flowed from a defect the tenant told you about and you did not fix — where the tenant's own report becomes the evidence against you.
What evidence do I need for a tenant damage claim?
Evidence that will still work six months later in front of someone who was not there: a dated, signed inventory with photographs at check-in, a check-out in the same format, original photographs with their metadata rather than screenshots, invoices for work actually done rather than estimates, and the repair reporting trail. Without a check-in inventory you cannot show the damage is new.