Landlord insurance in France

PNO is the core landlord insurance product in France. It is designed specifically for property owners who do not live in the property they own: buy-to-let landlords, owners of second homes that are sometimes let, and non-resident investors. The PNO policy covers the building and the landlord’s liability in circumstances where the tenant’s insurance does not apply or is insufficient.

What a PNO policy covers

A comprehensive PNO policy from Best French Insurance through Generali typically covers:

• Building damage: fire, water damage, storm, lightning, explosion, and natural disasters. The building cover protects the structural elements of the property, fixed fittings, and the landlord’s own contents (such as kitchen appliances in a furnished let).
• Theft and vandalism: including damage caused during a break-in, even when the property is vacant between tenancies.
• Glass breakage: windows, skylights, glazed doors, and in many policy tiers, ceramic hobs and sanitary ware.
• Landlord’s civil liability: covering you if a structural defect or maintenance failure in your property causes injury or damage to a tenant, a neighbour, or any third party. A collapsed balcony rail, a falling roof tile, a gas leak from an ageing boiler: these are the scenarios this guarantee is designed for.
• Cover during vacancy: a critical feature for landlords. Between tenancies, when the property is unoccupied, the tenant’s insurance no longer applies. The PNO policy steps in to maintain continuous protection.
• Loss of rental income: if the property becomes uninhabitable following an insured event (fire, flooding, storm damage), the PNO policy covers the rental income lost during the period of repair. For landlords relying on rental income to service a mortgage, this guarantee can be the difference between a manageable claim and a serious financial problem.

Is PNO insurance compulsory in France?

Since 2015, the ALUR law has made PNO insurance legally mandatory for all landlords who own property within a co-ownership building. This covers the vast majority of urban apartment buildings in France. For landlords of freestanding houses outside a co-ownership, PNO is strongly recommended but not legally compelled.

In practice, leaving any let property uninsured under a PNO or equivalent policy is a significant financial risk. The tenant’s insurance covers their own liability and contents, but not the landlord’s. If your property is damaged in a way that the tenant is not liable for, or if the tenant’s insurance is insufficient to cover the loss, the cost falls directly to you as the owner.

GLI: unpaid rent and tenant default protection

The GLI is the French landlord’s protection against the single most financially damaging risk of letting property: a tenant who stops paying rent. It is a separate contract from the PNO policy, though the two are often arranged together through the same insurer.

The GLI compensates the landlord for unpaid rent and associated charges from the moment the tenant falls into arrears. Depending on the policy structure, it may also cover:

• Legal costs and court fees associated with pursuing a non-paying tenant through the French legal system, including eviction proceedings.
• Tenant-caused property damage identified at the end-of-tenancy inspection, where the damage exceeds the security deposit held.
• Vacancy costs: a limited number of months of lost rental income when the property is empty as a direct result of an insured event such as forced departure, eviction, or a post-damage repair period.

Why GLI matters more than it might appear

The French rental legal process is famously slow. Evicting a non-paying tenant through the courts can take twelve months or more, and the winter eviction moratorium (which runs from November to March) means that even a successful court order cannot be enforced during that period. A landlord without GLI cover can find themselves receiving no rent for a full year while remaining legally obligated to maintain the property.

For non-resident landlords managing property from the UK, Ireland, or elsewhere, the practical difficulties of managing a French legal process remotely add an additional layer of complexity. A GLI policy arranged through Best French Insurance provides not only financial protection but access to French-language legal assistance coordinated on your behalf, with our bilingual team available to guide you through the process in English.

GLI eligibility conditions

Not all tenants qualify for GLI cover. Insurers typically require that the rent does not exceed a defined share of the tenant’s net monthly income, usually around 33–35%. Tenants on permanent employment contracts are the most straightforward to insure; tenants on fixed-term contracts, self-employed individuals, or those with variable income may be subject to additional conditions or require pre-approval. Our advisors assess tenant eligibility at the outset and structure your cover accordingly.

Legal protection cover for French landlords

Legal protection insurance is the third element of a well-structured landlord insurance package. It covers the costs of legal proceedings beyond those included in a GLI policy: boundary disputes with neighbours, disagreements with contractors over renovation work, disputes with co-ownership management, and any situation where you need access to French legal advice or formal representation.

For English-speaking landlords who do not live in France and are not familiar with French civil law, legal protection cover is not a luxury. It provides immediate access to a French-language legal team, coordinated in English through our office, at a fraction of what independent legal advice would cost.

Specific considerations for non-resident landlords

Owning and letting a French property while living in another country creates a risk profile that goes beyond what a standard policy addresses. The following points are specific to non-resident ownership and should be reviewed when arranging or renewing cover.

Vacancy between tenancies

The period between one tenancy ending and the next beginning is a particular risk window. The outgoing tenant’s policy has lapsed; the incoming tenant has not yet signed. During this period, the PNO policy is the only active protection on the property. Ensure your policy explicitly covers vacancy without a tight time restriction; some cheaper PNO products limit vacant property cover to 30 or 60 consecutive days, which leaves gaps for landlords with longer void periods.

Furnished lettings and short-term rental

Landlords letting furnished properties, including through platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, or Gîtes de France, face additional insurance considerations. Standard long-term rental cover may not extend to short-term or tourist lettings. If you let your property on a short-term basis to holiday guests, your policy must explicitly include this use. Failure to declare short-term rental activity to your insurer can void your cover entirely in the event of a claim.

Remote claims management

When a claim occurs (a burst pipe in February, a break-in while the property is vacant, storm damage to the roof), a non-resident landlord is not in a position to attend the property, meet the loss adjuster, or coordinate repairs. Our advisors are available by phone and email for exactly these situations, and can liaise with local contractors and the Generali claims team on your behalf. Where policies include emergency assistance cover, we can activate this to arrange urgent intervention without you needing to be present.

Tax deductibility

In France, PNO and GLI premiums paid by landlords are fully deductible against rental income for tax purposes. This applies to both resident and non-resident landlords who declare French rental income to the French tax authorities. Factor this deductibility into the effective annual cost when comparing policy options.

Why arrange your landlord insurance through Best French Insurance

Best French Insurance is a real Generali agency at 16 rue Plumejeau in Cognac. We are not a comparison website or an automated online platform. Our bilingual advisors have worked with English-speaking landlords and property investors across France for over 20 years, from Normandy and Brittany to Provence and the Dordogne.

When you arrange landlord insurance through our office, we assess your situation properly: the type of property, the letting structure (furnished or unfurnished, long-term or seasonal), your residency status, and the profile of your current or prospective tenants. We then structure a policy, or combination of policies, that provides genuine, complete protection rather than a cheaply priced product with gaps you will only discover at the point of claim.

Our advice is independent and our fee is paid by Generali, not by you, and not by any other party with an interest in what we recommend. If you already hold landlord cover that is fit for purpose, we will tell you. If there are gaps worth addressing, we identify them clearly and explain your options without pressure.

Quotes are free and without obligation. Our Cognac office is open Monday to Friday 9am–6pm and Saturday 9am–12pm. Reach us by phone on 05 45 82 03 20 or by email at cognac@agence.generali.fr.