You own a building and businesses rent space in it. A homeowners policy is obviously wrong. A residential landlord policy is closer but still not right, because your tenants are not families on a twelve-month lease — they are a print shop, a clinic and a taproom, and each of them changes what the building is exposed to. The policy written for this is lessor's risk only.
The building itself, and your liability as the owner of it. If the roof goes, that is your policy. If someone slips in the common areas or the parking lot, that is your policy. Loss of rental income after a covered event that makes the space untenantable is usually available and is the part owners most often leave off.
Your tenants. Not their stock, not their equipment, not their fit-out, and not anything arising from how they run their business. If a customer is hurt inside the taproom by something the taproom did, that is the taproom's general liability, not yours. Your lease should require every tenant to carry their own coverage, name you as an additional insured, and give you a certificate before they take the keys.
This is the part that surprises owners. An LRO rate follows what happens inside the building. Offices and light retail are one thing; commercial cooking, welding, chemicals or late-night alcohol are another. Change of tenant is therefore a change of risk, and it is worth telling us when a unit re-lets rather than at renewal.
Requiring insurance in the lease is only half of it. Collect the certificate, check it names you as additional insured rather than merely certificate holder — they are not the same thing — and note when it expires. A tenant whose policy quietly lapsed is a tenant whose claim comes to you.
Vacancy provisions apply to commercial buildings the same way they apply to houses. A unit that has been empty past the period named in your policy can lose vandalism, glass, water damage and theft coverage entirely. Tell us before a space goes dark, not after.
Lessor's risk is a specific product for a specific situation, and a generic property policy is not a substitute for it. See our landlord insurance page.
Tell us what the tenants do and how the space is split. Lessor's risk is priced on what happens inside, so the detail matters.
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