Who Is Responsible for Insuring a Freehold Building?
Freeholder, management company, RTM company or leaseholder — the lease decides who insures the building. Here is how to work out which applies to yours.
Freeholder · 20 August 2026 · 7 min read
"Who insures the building?" sounds like a simple question, and in most buildings it has a simple answer. The complications arise when nobody has read the lease recently, or when management of the building has changed hands.
Start With the Lease
The insuring obligation is set out in the lease, not in legislation. Almost every long residential lease contains a clause that says either:
- The landlord (freeholder) shall insure the building and recover the cost from the leaseholders, or
- The leaseholder shall insure their own demise, which is unusual in flats but occasionally appears in converted houses and in some commercial leases, or
- The management company shall insure, where a residents' management company is named as a party to the lease
Whichever clause applies, it sets both the duty to insure and the mechanism for paying for it.
The Four Common Arrangements
1. Freeholder insures. The most common arrangement. The freeholder arranges cover for the whole building and recovers a share from each leaseholder through the service charge.
2. Residents' management company insures. The RMC is named in the leases and carries the insuring obligation from the start. See RMC buildings insurance.
3. RTM company insures. Leaseholders have exercised the Right to Manage and the management functions, including insurance, have transferred. See RTM company insurance.
4. Joint freeholders insure. The leaseholders have bought the freehold and now arrange cover between them, either as named individuals or through a company.
What the Leaseholder Still Needs
Even where the building is insured by someone else, an individual flat owner is usually responsible for:
- Contents inside the flat
- Improvements and fixtures they have installed, depending on the lease definitions
- Their own liability as an occupier or as a landlord to their tenants
- Loss of rent to them, if they let the flat — the block policy protects the freeholder's position, not the leaseholder's income
This is the most common gap we see described in enquiries: a leaseholder assumes the block policy covers everything and discovers it does not extend to their rental income or their tenants' claims.
When Things Get Unclear
- The freehold has changed hands and the new owner has not yet arranged cover
- A managing agent has been dismissed and no one has taken over the renewal
- The building has no traceable freeholder, which happens with dissolved companies
- Two policies are running on the same building because a leaseholder arranged their own buildings cover as well
Duplicate buildings cover on the same structure is not a safety net — it usually complicates claims rather than improving them.
Evidence of Cover
Leaseholders are generally entitled to ask for a summary of the insurance or to inspect the policy. Whoever arranges the cover is usually expected to circulate the schedule at renewal, along with the sum insured and any significant excesses.
Making an Enquiry
If you are the person responsible for insuring a freehold building — as freeholder, RMC director, RTM director or joint freeholder — you can start an enquiry on our freeholder building insurance page.
Landlord Quote is an FCA authorised lead generation business. We do not arrange cover or advise on it. Where your enquiry matches, we pass your details to an FCA regulated broker in this sector who contacts you directly.
Beyond Leads Ltd T/A Landlord Quote is an FCA authorised lead generation business. We do not give advice, arrange cover or quote premiums. If your enquiry is matched, your details are shared with an FCA regulated broker who specialises in this sector.
Beyond Leads Ltd T/A Landlord Quote (FCA FRN 940006) is an FCA authorised lead generation business. We do not provide insurance advice, recommend policies, arrange cover or quote premiums. This page is general information only. If your enquiry is matched, your details are shared with an FCA authorised specialist broker who will discuss cover and pricing with you directly.