Does Landlord Insurance Cover Tenant Damage in Paris?

A Paris tenant returned the keys on a Tuesday. The apartment looked reasonable at first. By the following weekend, the landlord had documented three damaged walls, a warped parquet floor, and several broken kitchen fixtures. The deposit covered a fraction of the costs.

This situation is more common than most landlords expect, and it raises the same question every time: Does landlord insurance actually cover this?

The short answer is yes, but partially, and only under specific conditions. French law divides responsibility across three separate insurance layers: the tenant's home insurance, the landlord's non-occupant property insurance (PNO), and unpaid rent insurance (GLI). Each covers a different type of loss under different conditions. Getting the combination right has real financial consequences.

This guide explains how the three layers work, what each one covers for Paris landlords, and what steps to follow if a tenant causes damage.

Under French law, tenants are responsible for damage they cause during a tenancy. But the scope of that responsibility is more precise than most landlords assume, and the boundary between what a tenant owes and what the landlord absorbs determines whether any insurance claim succeeds.

What the law says about tenant liability in France

Article 7 of the loi du 6 juillet 1989, the main law governing residential leases in France, requires tenants to be accountable for any damage they cause during the tenancy. This applies regardless of the tenant's nationality or how long they have lived in the property.

When a tenancy ends, the two inspection reports drawn up at the start and end of the lease become the legal reference point. Any deterioration that cannot be attributed to normal aging falls on the tenant.

Two things decide whether a claim succeeds or fails:

• The landlord carries the burden of proof. Any deterioration not clearly documented in the reports is very difficult to claim for.
• Both documents need to be dated, detailed, and supported by photographs.

For a full guide on how to conduct these inspections properly, the article on protecting your deposit with a Paris apartment inspection covers the process and the risks in detail.

Wear and tear versus damage: a distinction that decides every claim

Not every mark or imperfection in a departing tenant's apartment can be charged back. French law draws a clear line between two types of deterioration.

• Vétusté (wear and tear) is the natural degradation that comes from time and normal use: paint that yellows after five or six years, a shower seal that gradually peels, parquet flooring that loses its shine. The cost of vétusté always falls on the landlord.
• Dégradation (damage) is different. A hole punched in a wall, burn marks on a worktop, a broken window: these are the tenant's responsibility and can be legitimately claimed through insurance.

Many French leases include an optional wear-and-tear schedule that sets the expected lifespan of materials and reduces the claimable amount by a fixed percentage each year. For a wall repainted five years ago, that reduction might be around 30%. This applies to both PNO and GLI claims, so it is worth understanding before submitting anything to an insurer.

PNO signifie Propriétaire Non Occupant, c'est-à-dire un propriétaire qui n'habite pas le logement qu'il met en location. Cette assurance est spécialement conçue pour cette situation : elle protège le bien lorsqu'il est occupé par un locataire ou lorsqu'il est vacant entre deux locations.

L'assurance PNO ne remplace pas l'assurance habitation du locataire. Elle intervient en complément, en couvrant les risques et les situations qui ne sont pas pris en charge par le contrat d'assurance du locataire.

When landlord insurance (PNO) steps in

PNO insurance intervenes in three main situations.

1. The first is the vacancy between tenancies. When no tenant is in the property, their home insurance is not active. During this gap, PNO is the only active coverage on the property.
2. The second is when a tenant's policy is inadequate or has lapsed. Tenants in France are legally required to hold home insurance and to provide proof of renewal each year. In practice (and this is more common than agencies admit), some do not. When a claim arises and the tenant's policy falls short, PNO steps in as the fallback.
3. The third is structural damage. If a pipe bursts inside a load-bearing wall or a roof defect causes a leak, the origin is the building itself, not the tenant's behaviour. That responsibility falls on the owner, and PNO is what covers it.

In a furnished rental (bail meublé), some PNO policies also include a clause covering furniture and fixtures provided by the landlord. This is not automatic, so it is worth checking your policy specifically, particularly in Paris where most expat and corporate rentals are furnished.

What Paris landlords need to know about shared buildings

Paris is different from the rest of France in one important way. Around 75% of all Paris homes are in copropriétés, which are jointly owned apartment buildings where each flat is held separately. The loi ALUR of 2014, specifically Article 9-1 of the loi du 10 juillet 1965, makes PNO insurance legally mandatory for all non-occupying owners in this type of building. The minimum requirement is civil liability coverage.

In practice, if you own a Paris apartment that you rent out, you are almost certainly required to hold a PNO policy. This applies whether the property is currently occupied, vacant, or between tenancies.

For a full breakdown of what these obligations mean in practice, the economie.gouv.fr guide to rental property insurance is the authoritative source.

What does PNO cost in 2026?

A standard PNO policy for a Paris apartment typically runs €114 to €168 per year. Premiums rose approximately 8% in 2026 following an increase in the mandatory natural disaster (CatNat) surcharge, which went from 12% to 20% on 1 January 2025. For landlords filing under the régime réel (France's standard landlord tax filing system), PNO premiums are 100% deductible from rental income, which reduces the net cost considerably.

What PNO does not cover

It is worth being clear about what PNO will not help with:

• It does not cover unpaid rent
• It does not automatically cover tenant-caused damage beyond what the tenant's own policy handles
• It does not cover the tenant's personal belongings

For losses that exceed the deposit after a tenant departs, a second type of policy is more directly relevant.

If you're still unsure about where PNO coverage begins and ends, this short video offers a clear introduction to the fundamentals of non-occupant owner (PNO) insurance and the key protections it provides.

GLI stands for Garantie Loyers Impayés, which translates as unpaid rent insurance. It is often described as protection against missed rent payments, and that is accurate. But it does more than that.

Most GLI contracts include a separate clause, called the property damage guarantee, which covers tenant-caused damage to the property that goes beyond what the security deposit can absorb. This makes GLI the more directly relevant policy when the question is whether landlord insurance covers tenant damage.

What does GLI typically cover?

• Unpaid rent for up to 24 months
• Property damage caused by the departing tenant, above the deposit amount
• Legal costs if the matter goes to court

The cost is 2.5% to 5% of the annual rent including charges. For a Paris apartment at €1,400 per month, a GLI policy at 3% works out to around €504 per year. GLI rates rose 15% to 20% between 2024 and 2025, mainly because eviction procedures in France have become longer and more expensive for insurers.

What the property damage guarantee actually covers

The property damage guarantee within GLI covers damage to the fixed structure of the property: walls, floors, ceilings, built-in installations, and fitted kitchen or bathroom elements. It kicks in when repair costs exceed the deposit.

A few important limits to know:

• It does not automatically cover movable furniture the landlord has placed in a furnished rental. A separate clause or PNO option is needed for that.
• It treats deliberate damage differently from simple maintenance neglect, which falls into a separate category.

To activate a GLI claim for property damage, the insurer will need the entry and exit inspection reports, dated photographs, at least two repair quotes from certified tradespeople, and a copy of the tenancy agreement. Most insurers review a complete file within 30 to 60 days.

The wear-and-tear deduction and its impact on your payout

The same wear-and-tear logic used under French tenancy law also applies inside GLI claims. A wall painted six years ago may have 36% deducted from the insurer's calculation, based on a widely applied rate of 6% per year.

It is worth understanding this before a claim arises, not during it. Landlords who keep dated invoices for renovations and repainting have a documented record that supports a higher reimbursement. Without that paperwork, the insurer applies a conservative estimate.

There is also an eligibility constraint worth knowing: GLI is only available when the tenant met the insurer's income requirements at the time of signing. The standard threshold is stable employment and a monthly income of at least three times the rent. If a tenant was accepted without meeting those thresholds, GLI coverage may not apply to their tenancy. In short, the quality of your original tenant selection directly affects whether GLI protection is available at all.

Here is a situation that comes up regularly in Paris apartment buildings. A water leak in your rented apartment damages the floor and the ceiling of the flat below. Your PNO policy, the tenant's home insurance, and potentially the building's collective insurance are all in play. Who leads the claim? Who pays?

This is what the IRSI convention addresses, and because virtually all Paris apartments are in jointly owned buildings, it applies to most Paris landlords at some point.

IRSI (Indemnisation et Recours des Sinistres Immeuble) is an agreement between French insurers that governs how water damage and fire claims are managed in shared residential buildings. It works on three thresholds based on the total cost of damage.

The three thresholds that determine who pays

• Below €1,600 excluding VAT, the tenant's insurer manages and pays the entire claim, including losses on the landlord's side. No recourse between insurers takes place at this level.
• Between €1,600 and €5,000 excluding VAT, each insurer covers their own insured's losses separately.
• Above €5,000 excluding VAT, the claim falls outside IRSI and is handled case by case under standard insurance law.

One practical note: always notify the building's management body (syndic) of any claim involving shared infrastructure, even when the IRSI threshold suggests the tenant's insurer leads. Late notification can complicate the process. For more on standard lease obligations in Paris, the guide to essential home contracts when moving to Paris covers the contractual framework. The official breakdown of who is responsible for damage in a rented property is also available on Service-Public.fr.

What happens when your tenant is uninsured

If a claim arises and the tenant has no valid insurance in place, the IRSI thresholds still apply in terms of which insurer leads the process. The difference is that the tenant's side has no coverage. The landlord's PNO becomes the effective backstop for losses on the landlord's property.

This is the precise scenario where holding an active PNO policy has the most direct value, not as an optional extra, but as the practical fallback when the tenant's insurance fails.

The documentation you build in the 48 hours after a tenant leaves defines what you can recover. Not the policy wording. Not the legal framework. The documentation.

Documenting damage correctly at entry and exit

Every claim for tenant damage in Paris ultimately rests on two documents: the move-in inspection (état des lieux d'entrée) and the move-out inspection (état des lieux de sortie). The entry report records the condition of the property when the tenant takes possession. The exit report records it when they leave. The difference between the two is the legal basis for any claim.

Without a detailed, dated, and photographed entry report, there is no baseline to compare against, and no insurer or court will process a claim.

At exit, document every room thoroughly:

• Photograph each area of concern with good lighting and multiple angles
• Reference each photograph explicitly in the written report
• Note the condition of appliances, surfaces, floors, walls, and any landlord-provided furniture

If the tenant refuses to attend or cannot be reached, a huissier (a judicial officer) can conduct the inspection formally. This costs roughly €200 to €300, but the report carries legal weight in both insurance claims and court proceedings.

The Paris property management fees and services guide explains how professional managers approach both inspections as a standard part of the handover process.

Filing a claim with your PNO or GLI insurer

The dossier for a PNO or GLI damage claim needs to include:

• Both inspection reports, dated and with photographs
• At least two repair quotes from certified tradespeople (artisans qualifiés)
• A copy of the signed lease and any relevant correspondence with the tenant
• Proof of your PNO or GLI policy contract
• A formal written demand (mise en demeure, meaning a legal notice requesting payment) if the tenant has refused to pay voluntarily

Report the claim to your insurer within five working days of the event. For theft or vandalism, the deadline is two working days. Late notification is one of the most common reasons claims are delayed or partially refused.

The most effective insurance strategy for a Paris landlord is not choosing between PNO and GLI. It is placing a tenant whose profile makes serious claims unlikely in the first place.

Insurance is a recovery mechanism. Tenant quality and professional management are what reduce the probability of needing to use it.

How tenant screening reduces insurance claims

Corporate tenants, diplomatic staff, and senior international professionals have the lowest-risk rental profiles on the Paris market. Their income is stable, their professional obligations make property maintenance a priority, and their applications are typically supported by employer documentation or institutional backing.

Rent arrears in France rose 86% in January 2026. That is not an argument against GLI insurance. It is a strong argument for placing tenants whose profile makes it unlikely GLI will be triggered. Those are different objectives, and both matter.

Relocation in Paris works with exactly this pool of tenants: corporate, diplomatic, and executive profiles sourced through an off-market network, before any public listing goes live. Every application is reviewed for lease eligibility, income documentation, and guarantor status before it reaches the landlord.

As an official GarantMe partner, the team can also integrate a guaranteed rent solution directly into the application process, which removes the need to source a guarantor separately and satisfies the conditions required by most GLI insurers.

For landlords who own a Paris property while based elsewhere, the guide to managing a Paris property remotely covers the practical side of tenancy management in more detail.

What professional property management handles for Paris landlords

A professional property manager handles the annual insurance certificate renewal check, a legal obligation that is often missed when ownership is not actively managed. They coordinate the entry and exit inspections to the standard that insurers require, which is a materially different level of detail from an informal walkthrough. They maintain a local artisan network so maintenance and repair issues are addressed before they escalate into insurance events.

This is relevant for any Paris landlord who values time, legal compliance, and professional oversight, not only for those managing remotely. Many resident landlords with one or two properties find the administrative requirements increasingly complex, particularly as DPE compliance requirements, rent control thresholds, and GLI conditions have all tightened since 2025.

For landlords with a furnished Paris apartment looking to connect with pre-screened corporate and diplomatic tenants, the Relocation in Paris accommodation and property services offer a structured route to that tenant pool.