Different insurance options for landlords

A friend of ours who rents out a small place near the port called us in a panic last winter after a pipe burst on the floor above her tenant. Her home insurance, the one she’d kept from when she lived there herself, didn’t cover it. That call is basically why this article exists.

Landlords in France need a different insurance logic than homeowners living in their own property, built around two separate pillars: PNO insurance for the building itself, and GLI cover for unpaid rent. Confusing the two, or assuming one includes the other, is the most common and most costly mistake we’ve seen among people renting out a first property.

In this guide:

• Why standard home insurance usually isn’t enough for a rental
• What PNO insurance actually covers, and when it’s legally required
• What GLI covers and how it differs from PNO
• Additional cover worth considering for specific situations

Why your own home insurance isn’t the answer

Standard home insurance is built for someone living in the property day to day. It typically covers the structure, personal belongings, temporary housing after a covered loss, and liability if a visitor gets hurt.

The catch is that most of these policies explicitly exclude non-owner-occupied properties, or reduce coverage substantially once you move out and rent the place to someone else. Keeping your old homeowner policy after becoming a landlord, as our friend discovered the hard way, can leave you with a policy that looks fine on paper but doesn’t actually respond when something goes wrong.

Assurance PNO: the landlord’s base coverage

PNO insurance (propriétaire non occupant) is designed specifically for owners who rent out a property rather than live in it. It generally covers the building’s structure and your civil liability as owner, damage to a neighbour caused by your property, for instance, even when the unit is empty between tenants.

Under the loi Alur of 2014, PNO insurance (at minimum a liability-only version) is mandatory for any property owner within a co-ownership building (copropriété). For a standalone house, it isn’t legally required by default, though we’d still call it close to essential given how little it costs relative to what it protects.

GLI: what actually happens when rent stops coming in

Here’s the distinction that trips up a lot of new landlords: PNO doesn’t cover unpaid rent. That’s a separate product entirely, the garantie loyers impayés (GLI), and it needs its own subscription even if some insurers bundle both under one packaged offer.

GLI compensates for rent you don’t receive, and typically also covers certain damages and legal costs tied to recovering the debt. Depending on the policy, it can kick in as early as the first missed payment rather than after months of arrears, which matters a lot if you depend on that rental income to cover a mortgage.

PNO protects the building. GLI protects your income from it. Treating them as interchangeable is the single most common insurance mistake we’ve seen among first-time landlords.

What 2026 changed for landlord insurance costs

Premiums have moved noticeably this year. Industry data points to roughly an 8% increase in landlord insurance costs in 2026, driven largely by rising natural-catastrophe surcharges rather than by the core coverage itself. It’s worth shopping quotes rather than automatically renewing, since the increase hasn’t been uniform across insurers.

Cover	What it protects	Mandatory?
PNO (propriétaire non occupant)	Building structure, owner liability	Yes, in a copropriété (loi Alur)
GLI (garantie loyers impayés)	Unpaid rent, related legal costs	No, but strongly recommended
Tenant’s own home insurance	Tenant’s belongings and liability	Yes, for the tenant on an unfurnished lease

Source: French landlord insurance market data and loi Alur provisions, 2026 figures.

Encouraging your tenant to carry their own cover

For an unfurnished lease, French law already requires tenants to hold home insurance and to provide proof annually. This protects both sides: it covers the tenant’s own belongings, and it limits your exposure if damage originates from their unit rather than the building itself.

Furnished leases work a little differently in practice, and it’s worth confirming what the lease itself specifies rather than assuming the same rule applies automatically.

Extra cover worth considering

A few situations call for coverage beyond the PNO and GLI basics. If your rental sits in a flood-prone area, standard landlord policies often exclude flood damage specifically, worth checking with your insurer directly rather than assuming it’s included.

Short-term or seasonal rentals, the kind registered for tourist use, frequently fall outside standard landlord policies too, and need a dedicated rider. If you’re weighing seasonal letting against a classic lease, our piece on landlord obligations and tenant rights covers how the legal framework shifts between the two.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just keep my regular home insurance after renting out my property? Generally no. Most standard policies exclude or limit cover once a property is no longer owner-occupied, which is exactly the gap PNO insurance is designed to close.

Is GLI worth it if my tenant seems reliable? Reliability can change with a job loss or health issue nobody saw coming. GLI is inexpensive relative to a full missed rental income stream over several months.

Does PNO cover damage caused by my tenant? Typically it covers the building and your liability as owner, not damage the tenant themselves causes to their own furnishings, that falls under the tenant’s own insurance.

This article shares our own experience as landlords, not a professional insurance recommendation. Always confirm exact coverage, exclusions and pricing directly with an insurer or broker before choosing a policy.

Article updated in July 2026.