Home insurance in the Czech Republic: what renters need and what owners need

The short version

In the Czech Republic there are two separate policies covering the very same flat. Pojištění nemovitosti (property insurance) covers the building itself — walls, floor slabs, windows, heating. Pojištění domácnosti (household contents insurance) covers what is inside: furniture, appliances, clothes, the bike in the storage room.

So a tenant needs the first one? No — it is exactly the other way round. A tenant needs pojištění domácnosti; an owner needs both products.

The two policies in plain language

Imagine you could turn the flat upside down. Everything that falls out is contents. Everything that stays in place is the property.

These three things are often sold as a single package, but they are still three separate covers with three separate limits. Do not go by the product name on the cover — go by the individual lines inside the contract.

What a tenant insures, and why the landlord's policy is no help

The logic is simple: insurance compensates whoever owns the damaged property. The landlord's pojištění nemovitosti is written in the owner's name and covers the owner's asset — the flat as such. Your laptop, your bike, your dishes and your clothes do not belong to the landlord, they are not listed in that policy and nothing will be paid out for them.

That is why a tenant has their own stake in pojištění domácnosti:

• The things inside the flat. Electronics, furniture you bought yourself, clothes, sports gear, tools.
• Burglary. Usually subject to conditions on how the door and windows are secured — those conditions are spelled out in the contract.
• Water, fire, storm. A leak from the neighbours upstairs, a fire, a windstorm.
• Sometimes items in the cellar, storage room or garage — but under a separate, lower limit.

Check separately whether the policy covers equipment you installed yourself: a dishwasher, an air conditioner, a fitted wardrobe. Depending on how the item is mounted, the insurer may treat it either as movable property or as part of the building — the split between the two policies is not obvious here, and it is better to clarify it in advance.

Liability towards the neighbours — the key point for a tenant

If there is one item in the policy that alone justifies a tenant taking it out, it is pojištění odpovědnosti — liability insurance for damage caused to third parties. It is often bundled into a pojištění domácnosti package.

Why it matters more than your own belongings: you know your own things and roughly what they are worth. Damage to someone else's property, on the other hand, has no built-in ceiling. A tap left running in an old building means not just your floor, but the ceiling, walls, parquet and furniture of the neighbours below — and sometimes the neighbours below them too. The bill is set by somebody else's renovation, not by your budget.

For a tenant there is a second layer of risk. Damage to the flat itself is also damage to somebody else's property, because the flat belongs to the landlord. Whether your liability policy covers it depends on the terms of the specific contract: damage to rented property is part of the basic cover with some insurers and only an optional extension with others. That has to be checked in the wording of the policy, not assumed.

Then the kauce (security deposit) comes into play. Under §2254 of the občanský zákoník (Civil Code), the kauce together with any smluvní pokuta (contractual penalty) may not exceed three times the monthly rent. That is a ceiling on the security, not a ceiling on your liability — if the damage is greater, the difference is on you. Liability insurance is exactly what closes that gap.

What to look at in this part of the contract:

• The cover limit — the single most important figure. A low limit is used up instantly when several flats are flooded.
• Whether damage to the rented flat is included — a separate item, and for a tenant it matters just as much as damage to the neighbours.
• Who counts as insured. Usually you and the members of your household — check whether that includes partners you live with, children and pets.
• Whether cover applies outside the flat — for example if you damage someone else's car while cycling.
• Exclusions and reductions in payout. Intentional damage is excluded almost everywhere; in cases of gross negligence, or where you knowingly used faulty equipment, the insurer normally reserves the right to cut the payout. The wording differs from insurer to insurer — read your own.

What insurance does not replace: minor repairs

A tenant in the Czech Republic pays for drobné opravy — minor repairs and routine maintenance of the flat. Since 1 January 2026, NV 493/2025 Sb. has been in force and sets the ceilings: 1,500 Kč per individual case and 150 Kč per square metre per year in total.

This is not an insured event but your standard obligation under the lease. A policy is there for sudden damage — a burst pipe, a fire, a burglary — not for replacing a washer in a tap.

And one more thing: under §2237 of the občanský zákoník a lease must be in writing. If the landlord verbally demands that you take out insurance, that condition belongs in the written contract — otherwise it is unclear what exactly you are supposed to insure and for how much. That said, under §2238, using the flat in good faith for three years makes the lease properly concluded even without a written form.

What the bank requires with a mortgage, and what vinkulace is

An owner should really have pojištění nemovitosti in any case — it is their asset and their risk, even though the law does not require them to buy a policy. But if the flat was bought with a mortgage, insurance stops being optional: the bank requires the property itself to be insured as a condition of the loan. The bank's reasoning is straightforward — the flat is the collateral, and the bank does not want to be left with a loan secured by burnt-out walls.

That is where the word vinkulace appears. It is an assignment of the insurance payout in the bank's favour: in the event of a major claim, the insurer does not transfer the money straight to you but on terms agreed with the bank. The bank is entitled to demand this.

What that means in practice:

• Keeping the policy in force is a condition of the loan agreement: you cannot cancel it while the mortgage runs without breaching the contract.
• If you switch insurers, you have to notify the bank and, if it required vinkulace, arrange it again with the new policy.
• The bank also looks at the sum insured: it is usually tied to the cost of rebuilding the property, not to the outstanding balance of the loan. Check the exact requirement with your own bank — they differ.
• Vinkulace applies only to pojištění nemovitosti. Your belongings inside — pojištění domácnosti — are a separate policy and the bank has no say in it.

To estimate the payment and see which costs come on top of the mortgage itself, use the mortgage calculator in our real estate section — and for the specific requirements of a specific bank you can submit a request for a consultation.

What the price depends on

We deliberately do not quote specific rates: every insurer has its own and they change. But the set of factors is roughly the same everywhere.

• Size and type of home. A panel-block flat, a brick building, a detached house — different risks.
• Location. The district affects both the cost of rebuilding and the statistics for burglaries and water damage. That Prague districts differ from one another in money terms at all is clear from rents too: according to the Deloitte Rent Index for the second quarter of 2026, the rate in Prague 7 is 493 Kč/m² and in Prague 9 it is 468 Kč/m². Those are figures for two specific districts, not a city-wide average, and they do not translate directly into the price of a policy.
• The sum insured. The value you put on your belongings or on rebuilding the property.
• The range of risks. A basic package is cheaper; adding flood, theft, glass and electronics cover makes it more expensive.
• Spoluúčast — the deductible, your share of every claim. A higher deductible means a lower premium.
• The third-party liability limit.

Checklist: what to look for in a policy

1. What exactly is insured. Make sure it is the product you actually need: nemovitost, domácnost or both.
2. The sum insured. Set too low and the payout may be cut proportionally when you claim. Set too high and you are simply overpaying.
3. New-for-old or depreciated value. Whether you get the price of a new fridge or the value of your old one after depreciation.
4. Spoluúčast. Check that the deductible does not swallow small claims whole.
5. The liability limit. The key figure for a tenant.
6. Sub-limits. Separate ceilings for electronics, jewellery, cash and items kept in the cellar.
7. Security requirements. What kind of lock you need for a theft to count as a break-in.
8. Exclusions. Read this section above all — that is where every unpleasant surprise lives.
9. The deadline for reporting a claim and the list of documents you will be asked for.

If a leak happens: what to do

1. Shut off the water and stop the damage — that is your duty both by common sense and under the contract.
2. Photograph everything before you clean up: the water, the marks, the damaged items, the meter readings.
3. Notify the landlord or the building management in writing, ideally the same day.
4. Report the claim to your insurer within the deadline stated in the policy.
5. Do not throw damaged items away before they are inspected — you may be asked to produce them.
6. Keep every receipt for emergency work: many policies reimburse such costs, but within the conditions set out in the wording.

Who needs what: the short summary

And the last thing worth remembering in your first year in the Czech Republic: the landlord and the tenant are not in a conflict of interests — they simply hold two policies that do not overlap. Their insurance will not cover your belongings; yours will not cover their walls. Each side covers its own half, and only then is the flat protected in full.