- 8/5/2025

What is fire insurance?

10 min

Tenants' fire insurance - What insurance do you need if you rent?

Long live the student room student

Finally, you are a student: you move into student accommodation to live on your own, and maybe study a little... The key question is: are you already fully independent or do your parents still support you? And where are you legally registered? These factors will influence your search for the ideal student accommodation.

It’s simple: if your parents have fire insurance for the family home, your student room is usually also covered. This usually means certain conditions must be met, such as remaining legally registered at your parents address.

Fire insurance is mandatory for the tenant

You are young and do not yet have the funds to apply for a loan and buy a house. So you’re renting a flat. You are almost finished your studies and ready to leave behind the half-responsibilities of student life. Real life begins with taking out fire insurance.

If your bathtub overflows and causes damage to your neighbours, or if a candle spills and ignites your furniture, and the fire spreads to the flat next door, you'd better have good fire insurance. Or maybe your landlord has already arranged it?

Fire insurance is a legal obligation for tenants. For all rental agreements concluded or extended from 1 September 2018, the tenant must take out fire insurance. In addition, they must provide proof of this to the landlord every year. Unless the landlord has taken out fire insurance with waiver of recourse against the tenant.

The Top Home insurance policy for tenants is an AG fire insurance policy, also known as home insurance or home policy, which primarily protects your own furnishings against fire and water damage, short-circuits and similar incidents, as well as losses. If you opt for the comprehensive package, the theft option or the legal protection option are not luxuries.

Furniture and wall insurance

You are probably not the kind of rock star who leaves a hotel room in ruins. On the contrary, you respect the property, after all, at the end of your tenancy, you know you are expected to return the home in its original condition.

This is what rental liability is all about. As a tenant, you are responsible for any damage caused to the rented property... unless you can prove otherwise and demonstrate that responsibility lies with the landlord.

If your kitchen catches fire and the neighbours are affected, your neighbour’s insurer will knock on your door. It is why it’s preferable to have fire insurance. Of course, it covers much more than just a fire in the kitchen.

IMPORTANT: Before signing a rental agreement, ask your landlord whether they have taken out landlord fire insurance (Top Home insurance for landlords). Only if the landlord has included a "waiver of recourse" clause in the insurance policy are you free from the obligation of taking out fire insurance.

Homeowner’s fire insurance - Insure your most expensive property

Fire insurance covers more than fire

Not even your worst enemy would wish a house fire on you. Your home means everything to you: you live in it, you enjoy the good times in it, you have cherished furniture, family heirlooms and so much more. In short, your home is full of beautiful memories. Although not legally required, fire insurance is strongly recommended. And if ever you take out a mortgage, the bank will always strongly recommend you take out fire insurance.

A fire insurance policy is the same thing as a home insurance policy (Top Home for homeowners), because a fire insurance policy covers far more than just fire: imagine a local child inadvertently throwing a pebble on your window, and bang, there's a crack. Or fist-sized hailstones that shatter your solar panels in seconds.

In addition to compensation for damage to property, fire insurance also covers your civil liability in certain circumstances. For example, this could be the spread of a fire in your home or water damage to neighbours caused by a burst water pipe in your flat.

“Opportunity makes the thief”

Have your keys or garage remote control been stolen? No problem: fire insurance covers more than just fire. Especially when you add optional cover like theft or legal protection for even more security.

The theft option insures your furniture against theft, and also covers the cost of replacing locks on exterior doors if the keys or remote controls are stolen. If your home has suffered damage as a result of vandalism or malicious mischief, the theft insurance option offers strong protection. Say you are robbed while travelling in Guatemala. With this option, your belongings are covered.

There is, however, one exception to this rule: if your car is stolen from outside your home. It will not be covered by your home's fire insurance. To do this, you need Comprehensive Car Insurance (Top Omnium) insurance.

My neighbour refuses to pay

It was bound to happen eventually. You've been listening to your neighbours banging, drilling and sawing away in their house all weekend... until your plaster finally fell off. It now needs to be repaired, replastered and painted. But your neighbour is being difficult and refuses to pay any compensation.

In this case, you will have to take legal action to recover the cost of repairs. In this case, your costs can quickly add up: expert assessments, legal summons, your lawyer's fees, etc. – it all adds up.

"During a storm, a tile from our roof fell onto our neighbour’s veranda. The fact that insurance covered everything made things so much easier."
Diana, 37 years old

Travel, garden and swimming pool insurance

You're going on a trip with your car. So of course you take out travel insurance (temporary travel insurance or annual travel assistance via Touring). But did you know that your fire insurance also provides some cover when you travel? Your personal belongings are insured against damage anywhere in the world. In insurance jargon, this is referred to as "all insured and temporarily relocated content".

You can't imagine what can be insured. It’s makes sense to protect your swimming pool, teak terrace or garden from damage. For example, you can insure your premium garden furniture and accessories against the elements or theft.

If you're building or renovating a home, there are also a number of insurance policies that cover specific risks: accidents on site, theft of site equipment, damage to neighbours' property, etc. For these specific cases, make an appointment with one of our advisors.

Free insurance against loss of income

When it comes to insurance, not all examples are pleasant to hear. Outstanding balance insurance* allows you to repay your home loan easily if your partner dies, for example. Or conversely, if you die before the mortgage is paid off. It’s not fun, but this insurance ensures the surviving partner doesn’t have to worry about repaying the house alone.

If you unintentionally lose your job or become unable to work, it also becomes more difficult to repay your home loan. To compensate for this setback, guaranteed income insurance has been available in Flanders since 2009, subject to certain conditions. Guaranteed income insurance differs slightly depending on the Region. In Wallonia, guarantees are largely similar to those in the Flemish Region.

* Loan Protection Insurance, a branch 21 life insurance policy, is an AG Insurance insurance product, a company incorporated under Belgian law, distributed by BNP Paribas Fortis

Lessor fire insurance - Renting is an investment

Rental house

If your professional life is in good shape and you're interested in a project for the future, buying a property to let is an attractive investment. It is therefore essential to draw up a good contract covering all the responsibilities and obligations of the tenant and landlord.

As the landlord, you will also need landlord fire insurance (Top Home Insurance for Landlord) to rent out the property. It is not compulsory, but it offers you a guarantee... in case your tenant neglects to take out a fire policy. With landlord fire insurance, damage to your rented home is calculated on the basis of replacement value, unlike tenant fire insurance, which is based on actual value.

If you, as the landlord, include a "waiver of recourse" clause in your tenancy agreement, your insurer cannot take action against the tenant to compensate for any damage suffered. Even if responsibility for the damage clearly lies with the tenant.

What is a “waiver of recourse"?

Correct contractual agreements help preserve good relations between the tenant and the landlord. The clearer the terms, the easier it will be to reach an agreement if something goes wrong.

As a landlord, if you don't want to worry about whether your tenant has fire insurance, the simplest option is to take out a landlord's fire insurance policy yourself (Top Home Insurance for Landlords) and include a "waiver of recourse" clause. Thanks to this, the damage will not be passed on to the tenant, even if the latter is responsible for it.

In any case, it is in your interest, as the owner, to advise your tenant to also take out fire insurance that covers damage to their furniture or damage they may cause to third parties.