Relevant Oak cover for this topic includes Commercial Property Portfolio Insurance, Commercial Property Insurance, Landlord and Property Insurance, Unoccupied Property Insurance and Warehousing and Distribution Centre Insurance.
The schedule is the product
A property portfolio is usually insured on a schedule: a list of locations with a description, a use, a sum insured and sometimes special conditions. When a claim arrives, that list becomes the reference point for what was agreed. Errors in it, such as a missing outbuilding, a wrong floor area or a use that changed years ago, tend to surface at the worst moment.
This guide is about assembling that list well. It deliberately avoids repeating how to arrive at a rebuild figure, which our guide to declared values and underinsurance covers; here the concern is the information around the numbers, and how sites, tenants and leases fit together.
Commercial, residential and mixed-use buildings
Insurers distinguish between a pure warehouse, a retail parade with flats above, a block of apartments and an office building with a restaurant on the ground floor. Each has a different fire profile, occupancy pattern and liability exposure. A mixed-use building may need to be described by floor, with the activity and tenant for each.
Do not summarise a mixed building as simply “commercial”. Record the proportion of floor area for each use, the access arrangements between them and shared services such as risers, boilers and escape routes. Where some parts are residential, say whether they are let on assured tenancies, short lets or to employees, as the cover and questions asked may differ.
Tenant activity and occupancy
What happens inside a unit often matters more than its construction. A tenant storing packaging, running a commercial kitchen, charging batteries, spraying paint or operating heated processes changes the hazard of the building and sometimes of its neighbours. A change of tenant can therefore be a change of risk.
Keep a tenancy register with tenant name, business description, floor area, lease dates, and any known hazardous activity. Ask tenants to notify changes and decide who in your organisation tells the broker. Include vacant units in the register with the date they became empty, because occupancy status can bring different terms.
Values by site and by type of interest
Within a schedule, different elements need their own values: buildings, landlord’s fixtures and fittings, plant such as lifts and boilers, external works, and where relevant contents or stock. Ask which items are included in the building sum insured and which are separate, to avoid gaps between lists.
Keep valuation evidence with each location: the date and method used, the person who prepared it and any assumptions. A consistent approach across the portfolio makes it easier to explain, even though individual buildings differ. Reassess after refurbishment, extension, a change of use or when a valuation becomes old.
Rent loss, service charge and the re-letting period
A building fire affects income as well as bricks. Rent, service charge and other recoverable amounts may be at risk while repairs are carried out. Tenants may have lease clauses allowing rent suspension, break rights or termination if premises are unusable, which affects the period over which income is lost.
Estimate the time to reinstate, including planning, procurement and construction, and the time to find tenants once the building is ready. Compare this to the indemnity period and ask whether rent is insured on the basis of contracted rent, estimated market rent or both. Check how rent reviews and incentives, such as rent-free periods, are treated.
Leases, responsibilities and who insures what
Leases commonly allocate insurance responsibilities. In some, the landlord insures the building and recovers the cost; in others, the tenant must insure or reimburse. Some require specific terms, such as noting the tenant’s interest or waiving rights against particular parties. A schedule that ignores these can leave a lease in breach.
Gather the insurance clauses from each lease into a summary table. Flag unusual requirements, for example minimum cover levels, restrictions on insurers or obligations to reinstate. Seek legal advice for unclear obligations, and ask your broker to confirm that the programme can accommodate them, rather than assuming it does.
Aggregation: when one event reaches several sites
Portfolios often cluster geographically. Several units on one estate, or a row of neighbouring buildings, can be damaged by the same fire, flood or storm. The combined value at one location, or within a defined radius, is an accumulation that an insurer will assess.
Provide addresses, adjacency information and values by cluster. Say whether buildings share walls, yards or services. If your programme has per-event limits, ask how they relate to the largest cluster in your list. This is a question about structure of limits, not an invitation to understate values.
Acquisitions, disposals and inherited risks
A portfolio changes through the year. A newly purchased building arrives with a history you did not create, perhaps including old claims, deferred repairs, unknown tenants or a mismatch between the stated and actual use. Plan to collect the seller’s information, survey findings and lease documents before completion and tell your broker about the acquisition in good time, so cover is arranged on accurate facts.
Disposals matter too. Removing a site promptly avoids paying for a property you no longer own and prevents confusion about who is responsible if something happens during a handover period. Record completion dates, and where sales are conditional, discuss how cover is handled between exchange and completion.
A review calendar and who owns each task
Portfolio schedules rarely fail through one big error; they decay through many small ones. Set a calendar: quarterly checks on tenancy changes and vacancies, annual reviews of values and construction details, and ad hoc updates after works. Name the individual responsible for each task and the date it was done.
Keep a change log that records what altered, who told whom and the broker’s confirmation. This turns the schedule into a reliable record rather than a spreadsheet that only the last person to edit it understands. It also helps if a claim leads to questions about what was known and when.
Maintaining the schedule through the year
Set a rhythm: review the schedule at least before renewal, after each acquisition or disposal, and after significant works or tenant changes. Assign an owner for the document. Record the date and the source of each change so it is clear who knew what and when.
A tidy schedule does not guarantee terms; underwriting decisions and the final wording determine what is offered. Oak can help review your portfolio information before it goes to insurers and point out inconsistencies it would be better to resolve early.
Editorial information
Author: Oak Insurance Brokers. Prepared 15 October 2026; last updated 15 October 2026.
Independent review has not been recorded for this guide.
UK reference reading
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Important
This guide is general information, not legal, regulatory or personal insurance advice and not confirmation of cover. Always check current official guidance and the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of any policy.