Home and contents insurance in Czechia, for tenants, owners and landlords

A Czech home is insured with two policies. Property insurance (pojištění nemovitosti) covers the building, or a flat you own as a unit. Contents insurance (pojištění domácnosti) covers the things inside it. Liability insurance, for harm you cause other people, is usually added to either. Which ones you need depends on whether you rent, own or let, and on what the building's own policy already covers. This guide takes each in turn, then claims and what to read in a policy. The rules come from the Civil Code, but your policy's terms decide what's covered. The guide names no insurer and no price, and it isn't legal advice.

The two policies

Property insurance (pojištění nemovitosti) insures a building: a house, a block of flats, or a flat owned as a unit.¹ Contents insurance (pojištění domácnosti) insures the set of movable things that furnish a home: furniture, appliances, clothes, books.² A rough test: what's fixed to the building goes on the property policy, and what you'd pack when you move goes on the contents policy. Policies draw the line in their own terms, though. A contents policy can also cover some parts of the flat, such as a floating floor or a fitted kitchen.² Read the definitions in yours.

Both policies cover the risks they name (pojistná nebezpečí). The narrowest cover usually takes fire, explosion, a direct lightning strike, storm and hail. Wider cover adds, for example, water escaping from pipes, theft after a break-in and vandalism, and for a building, flood.¹ A risk the policy doesn't name isn't covered. Before you sign, the insurer must tell you which risks are covered, the limits and the exclusions.³

Contents are insured as a set. The policy covers whatever belongs to the household on the day of the loss, including things bought after you signed, and the sum insured applies to the whole set.⁴ So as your household grows, the sum insured should grow with it.

Liability insurance: the flat below

The classic Czech claim is water. A washing machine hose bursts, and the ceiling of the flat below is ruined. Who pays depends on the cause:

• Someone was at fault. Whoever breaches a legal duty through their own fault, and so harms someone else's property, pays for what they caused.⁵ Leaving a tap running counts.
• The thing failed by itself. If a thing causes harm by itself, such as a pipe that bursts, the person who should have been looking after it pays. If no one else can be identified, that's the owner. They escape only by proving they didn't neglect proper care.⁶
• Something fell from a window or balcony. Whoever uses the room pays, together with the person responsible under the rule above. If the user can't be identified, the owner of the building pays.⁷
• Your pet did it. Harm an animal causes is its owner's to pay, whoever was looking after it. The person keeping the animal pays jointly with the owner.⁸

In a block of flats owned as units, the water pipes inside a flat, after its meters or shut-off valve, belong to that flat, and so do the taps.⁹ In our reading, a leak from them usually falls on the flat's owner, or on a tenant whose machine or carelessness caused it. A leak from the common risers before your meters, or from the building's drain pipes, is the association's.⁹

Liability insurance (pojištění odpovědnosti, for everyday life "v běžném občanském životě") pays the harm you must compensate, within the scope and amounts the law or the policy sets.¹⁰ Your neighbour claims from you, not from your insurer, unless the policy or a law gives them a direct claim.¹⁰ Tell your insurer without undue delay what happened, that the neighbour has claimed, and what you think of the claim. If it goes to court, follow the insurer's instructions, and the insurer pays the costs of the case.¹¹

Tenants and owners both want this cover. A tenant answers for harm they cause to the neighbours and the building, and an owner also answers for what the flat and its pipes do by themselves. Liability cover can come with a contents or property policy, or on its own, so check whether yours has it. Moving with a pet covers renting a flat with a dog or cat.

The building's own policy

Flats in an owners' association (SVJ)

A building split into units is owned jointly. Each unit is the flat plus a share in the common parts.¹² The common parts are at least those meant to serve all the owners: the land, the main structure, the parts that keep the building and other owners' flats standing, and installations that other owners use too.¹³ The owners' association (společenství vlastníků, SVJ) is responsible for managing the building.¹⁴ A government regulation lists building insurance (pojištění domu) among the contracts the association may sign.¹⁵ So check what the association has insured, and where its policy stops.

The same regulation says which parts are common:

Even where the association insures the building, its policy may not reach the floor coverings, finishes and pipes inside your flat, and it never covers your things. Ask the administrator what the building's policy covers, the sum insured and the excess. Then insure your unit to fill the gap, and your contents. You maintain your own flat as the building's good condition requires.²⁰

Co-op flats

In a housing co-op (bytové družstvo), the co-op owns the whole building and its members rent their flats from it. Unless the Business Corporations Act says otherwise, a co-op lease follows the Civil Code's lease rules, along with any of the co-op's articles that don't conflict with the law's mandatory rules.²¹ So any building policy is the co-op's, as the owner. Ask the co-op what it covers. Your own things and your liability are yours to insure, as for any tenant. Buying a co-op flat explains how a co-op share works.

Tenants

As a tenant, you insure your own things and your own liability. The flat and the landlord's furniture are the landlord's to insure. The building is its owner's to insure; in a block of units, the owners' association that manages it may insure it.

• Your contents. A contents policy covers your household's things. If the flat is furnished, ask whether yours also covers things that aren't yours, such as the landlord's sofa.
• Your liability. It covers harm you cause to the neighbours. Ask whether it also covers damage to the rented flat itself. When the lease ends, you hand back the flat as you took it over, apart from normal wear.²² If you don't put right damage you're responsible for, the landlord can repair it at your cost.²³
• When something breaks. Tell the landlord at once about damage that needs fixing straight away, and do what you reasonably can to stop it getting worse. Unless you caused it, the landlord pays back what you reasonably spent.²⁴

The handover record notes the state of each room and the furniture when you move in, which helps both you and an insurer later.

Can a lease make you take out insurance?

The Civil Code's rules on flat leases say nothing about insurance. Three rules frame the answer:

• A clause that cuts the rights the lease rules give a tenant doesn't count.²⁵
• A clause that puts a clearly unreasonable duty on the tenant doesn't count.²⁶
• Apart from the rent and the services, the landlord may not ask the tenant for any other payment.²⁷

Nothing in the Code settles the question, so what follows is interpretation, not settled law. A clause asking you to hold your own contents or liability insurance doesn't take away a right the Code gives you, so the first rule doesn't stop it. Whether it's clearly unreasonable depends on the circumstances, and in a dispute a court would decide. Asking you to cover your own liability seems easier to defend than asking you to insure the landlord's building. A clause making you pay the landlord's own premium is harder to square with the third rule. Building insurance isn't among the services the Services Act lists, though the parties agree which services are provided.²⁸ If it shows up in your yearly settlement, ask what the item is. The service-charge check goes through a settlement line by line.

Landlords

Letting a flat changes what you need to insure, and what you need to tell your insurer.

• Tell your insurer before you let. When you take out a policy, you answer the insurer's written questions truthfully and fully.²⁹ If something stated in the policy, or something the insurer asked about, changes so much that a loss becomes more likely, the risk has risen. You mustn't raise it without the insurer's consent, and you report a rise you didn't cause without undue delay.³⁰ If you don't report it, the insurer may cancel without notice and cut a payout in proportion.³¹ Whether letting counts depends on what your policy and the insurer's questions said, so ask the insurer before you let.
• Insure what's yours. The flat as a unit, for what the association's policy doesn't cover, and the furniture and appliances you provide. Your tenant's contents policy is for their own things.
• Your liability as owner. As the owner, you can answer for harm the flat does by itself, such as a burst pipe inside it.⁶ Liability as the owner of a property (odpovědnost z vlastnictví nemovitosti) covers that, and it can come with the property policy.
• Short stays. If you let for short stays, tell the insurer that too. Letting a flat in Czechia explains why the law treats short stays as a business.

In our reading, you can't charge your premium to the tenant on top of the rent and services, as the section above explains, though you can build it into the rent you agree.²⁷ When you sell, a property policy ends on the day the insurer is told of the sale, unless it says otherwise.³²

If you'd rather not deal with tenants, repairs and handovers yourself, letting a flat in Czechia covers hiring a manager.

Owners with a mortgage

A bank lending against a flat usually wants the flat insured, and the policy pledged to the bank (vinkulace). Before you sign, the bank's standard summary of the offer (ESIS) must list duties like this, saying to whom and by when you must meet them.³³ If the loan requires insurance, the bank may not restrict your choice of insurer.³⁴

Vinkulace ties the payout to agreed conditions, usually in the bank's favour: the insurer pays the bank, or pays you only with the bank's consent. It's set up only with the insured person's consent, and lifted only with the bank's consent.³⁵ Even without vinkulace, the Civil Code protects the bank: when a pledged property is insured, the insurer pays the bank once it learns of the pledge in time. The bank may keep the payout and apply it to the loan only if you don't repay properly and on time, unless you've agreed otherwise. Anything above what you owe goes back to you.³⁶ So at a claim, expect the insurer to deal with the bank as well as with you, and read what your loan contract says about payouts.

When you buy, the seller's policy ends on the day their insurer is told of the sale, unless it says otherwise.³² Have your own policy in place from the day the flat is yours. A mortgage in Czechia as a foreigner covers the loan itself, and mortgage advisers explains who can help you find one.

When something happens

1. Make it safe and stop it getting worse. Turn off the water or the power, and call the emergency services if anyone is at risk. The insurer pays back what you reasonably spent to avert the loss or limit it.³⁷
2. Tell the insurer without undue delay. Explain truthfully how it happened and how big it is, mention anyone else's rights and any other insurance on the same thing, and hand over the documents they need.³⁸
3. Don't repair or clear up yet. Wait for the insurer's agreement, unless safety, health, the environment or another serious reason needs work sooner. If the policy sets a time for the insurer to reply, you can go ahead once it has passed. If it doesn't, you can go ahead after a time that's reasonable in the circumstances.³⁹
4. Keep a record. Take photos and video before anything is moved, keep the damaged things and the receipts, and note the meter readings. For a theft or vandalism, report it to the police and keep the reference.
5. Tell the others. A tenant tells the landlord.²⁴ An owner tells the building's administrator if the common parts are hit. If someone claims against you, tell your liability insurer.¹¹

The insurer starts investigating without undue delay. When it's done, it must justify in writing the amount it pays, or why it refuses.⁴⁰ Unless the policy says otherwise, the payout is due within 15 days of the investigation ending. If the investigation can't finish within 3 months of your report, the insurer must tell you why in writing, and pay a reasonable advance if you ask, unless it has good reason to refuse.⁴¹ If you break a duty and that made a real difference to the loss or to working out the payout, the insurer can cut the payout to match.⁴²

Time limits. The right to a payout becomes time-barred after three years, and that period starts running one year after the insured event, so it usually ends four years after it. For liability insurance it can end sooner, when the neighbour's claim against you times out.⁴³ A policy can't shorten or lengthen it.⁴⁴ Don't wait that long, though: you must report without undue delay.

If you disagree. Ask the insurer to explain its decision in writing. For consumers, the out-of-court body for non-life insurance, home policies included, is the Office of the Czech Insurance Association's Ombudsman (Kancelář ombudsmana ČAP), authorised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It's free and works in Czech. Apply within a year of first claiming from the insurer. Among insurance disputes, the Financial Arbiter takes only life insurance.⁴⁵

What to check in a policy

• The sum insured. For property, the most the insurer pays is usually the sum insured (pojistná částka), set at the property's value when you sign. The insurer may check that value.⁴⁶ Raise it when you renovate or buy more.
• Underinsurance (podpojištění). If at the time of the loss the sum insured is lower than the property's insured value, the payout is cut in the same proportion. Insured for half its value, you get half the damage. That's the default, unless the policy says it won't cut.⁴⁷ For contents, it's measured against the whole household.⁴
• New value or current value. If the policy agrees no value, the insured value is the usual price of the property at the time, and a used thing's usual price is lower than a new one's.⁴⁸ New value (nová cena) is what it costs to replace the thing with one of the same kind and quality.² Current value (časová cena) is the new value minus wear.⁴⁹ Ask which applies, and whether it changes for older things.
• The excess (spoluúčast). The part of each loss you bear yourself, as a fixed sum or a share. The insurer can hold you to it only if the policy says so expressly.⁵⁰
• Exclusions and limits. Read the list of what isn't covered, and any lower limits for particular things or places, such as valuables, bikes or a cellar storage unit. For home insurance, the insurer must give you a short document headed "Informační dokument o pojistném produktu" that sums up the cover, the exclusions and how the policy ends.³

To leave a policy, the Civil Code gives these windows:

For foreigners

Policies, terms and claim forms are usually in Czech. The law lets you agree another language. The pre-contract information and the record of your meeting come in the official language of the country where the risk or you are, or in another language you agree. The short product document must be in Czech or in another language you agree.⁵⁷ Ask for English documents, or a translation, before you sign. If you don't get them, have someone you trust read the Czech.

Check who you're dealing with. Anyone who sells you insurance must be authorised, and you can look them up in ČNB's register. Someone without authorisation may only pass your contact on, not offer you a product. Ask for the record of the meeting (záznam z jednání), which sets out your needs and why a product was recommended, and ask for time to read the documents. ČNB never commissions anyone to sell insurance, so don't trust anyone who says it has.⁵⁸

If you're new to Czechia, your first 30 days puts the rest of your first month in order.

Sources

1. Czech Insurance Association (ČAP), Building insurance, for the definition and the usual risks. ↩ ↩²

2. Czech Insurance Association (ČAP), Household insurance, for the definitions and the usual risks. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Insurance Distribution Act (Act 170/2018 Coll.), §84(a) to (e) and §91(1). ↩ ↩²

4. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2850. ↩ ↩²

5. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2900, §2910 and §2911. ↩

6. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2937(1). ↩ ↩²

7. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2937(2). ↩

8. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2933. ↩

9. Government Regulation 366/2013 Coll., on unit ownership, §6(a) and (d). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

10. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2861(1) and (2). ↩ ↩²

11. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2862. ↩ ↩²

12. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §1158(1) and §1159. ↩

13. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §1160. ↩

14. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §1189(1) and §1190. ↩

15. Government Regulation 366/2013 Coll., on unit ownership, §10(1)(c). ↩

16. Government Regulation 366/2013 Coll., on unit ownership, §5(1)(a), (b), (d), (f) and (h). ↩ ↩²

17. Government Regulation 366/2013 Coll., on unit ownership, §5(3). ↩

18. Government Regulation 366/2013 Coll., on unit ownership, §5(2). ↩

19. Government Regulation 366/2013 Coll., on unit ownership, §6(e). ↩

20. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §1175(2). ↩

21. Business Corporations Act (Act 90/2012 Coll.), §741(1). ↩

22. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2293. ↩

23. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2267. ↩

24. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2264. ↩ ↩²

25. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2235(1). ↩

26. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2239(1). ↩

27. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2251(2). ↩ ↩²

28. Services Act (Act 67/2013 Coll.), §3(1) and (2). ↩

29. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2788(1). ↩

30. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2790(1) and (2). ↩

31. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2793. ↩

32. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2812 and §2867. ↩ ↩²

33. Consumer Credit Act (Act 257/2016 Coll.), annex 4, part B, section 8. ↩

34. Consumer Credit Act (Act 257/2016 Coll.), §115(2). ↩

35. Czech Insurance Association (ČAP), glossary: vinkulace pojištění. ↩

36. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §1354. ↩

37. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2819(1). ↩

38. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2796(1). ↩

39. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2851. ↩

40. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2797(1). ↩

41. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2798(1) and (2). ↩

42. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2800(2). ↩

43. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §626, §629(1) and §635(2). ↩

44. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2771. ↩

45. Consumer Protection Act (Act 634/1992 Coll.), §20e(d); Ministry of Industry and Trade, list of out-of-court consumer dispute bodies and the ombudsman's entry; Financial Arbiter Act (Act 229/2002 Coll.), §1(1)(e). ↩

46. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2814(2). ↩

47. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2854. ↩

48. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2849. ↩

49. Czech Insurance Association (ČAP), glossary: časová cena. ↩

50. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2815. ↩

51. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2805. ↩ ↩²

52. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2807. ↩

53. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2803(2). ↩

54. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2786. ↩

55. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2808(3). ↩

56. Civil Code (Act 89/2012 Coll.), §2804. ↩

57. Insurance Distribution Act (Act 170/2018 Coll.), §90(1)(b) and §91(1)(b). ↩

58. Czech National Bank, ten things to watch when taking out insurance, points 1, 5, 6 and 9. ↩