Home Insurance in Kenya: Why Your Landlord's Cover Doesn't Protect Your Stuff

Picture this.

You come home to your apartment in Kilimani after a long day. Something smells wrong. You open the door. Water everywhere. The unit above yours had a burst pipe. Your laptop is soaked. Your couch is ruined. Your clothes closet looks like a swimming pool.

You call your landlord. They say, "My insurance covers the building. Not your things."

And just like that, you're out KSh 200,000+ in personal belongings. With no one to reimburse you.

This happens more often than you think. And almost no tenant in Kenya is prepared for it.

Table of Contents

• The Big Misunderstanding
• What Is Tenant Contents Insurance?
• What Is Tenant Contents Insurance?
• Real Scenarios: Why This Matters in Nairobi
• How Much Does Tenant Insurance Cost?
• What You Need to Do to Get Covered
• Common Exclusions to Watch Out For
• The "It Won't Happen to Me" Trap
• Final Word

The Big Misunderstanding

Here's what most tenants in Kenya believe:

"My landlord has insurance. I'm covered."

Wrong.

Your landlord's insurance -- usually called building insurance or property owner's insurance -- covers the structure. The walls. The roof. The plumbing. The floors.

It does NOT cover:

❌ Your furniture ❌ Your electronics ❌ Your clothes ❌ Your kitchen appliances ❌ Your personal documents ❌ Anything that belongs to YOU

If there's a fire and the building burns down, your landlord's insurance will rebuild the apartment. But your 65-inch TV, your MacBook, your imported coffee machine, and your entire wardrobe? Gone. Uninsured. Your problem.

Key insight: Building insurance protects the landlord's investment. Contents insurance protects yours. They are completely different policies.

What Is Tenant Contents Insurance?

Tenant contents insurance (also called domestic contents insurance or renter's insurance) covers your personal belongings inside a rented property.

Here's what a typical policy covers:

✔️ Fire and smoke damage -- your stuff destroyed in a fire ✔️ Theft and burglary -- break-ins, stolen electronics, jewellery ✔️ Water damage -- burst pipes, flooding from other units ✔️ Electrical damage -- power surges destroying your appliances ✔️ Accidental damage (some policies) -- you knock your TV off the wall ✔️ Temporary accommodation -- if your apartment is uninhabitable and you need to stay elsewhere

Some policies also offer:

✔️ Personal liability -- if a guest is injured in your apartment ✔️ All-risk cover -- items covered even outside your home (laptops, phones)

What Is Tenant Contents Insurance?

Tenant contents insurance (also called domestic contents insurance or renter's insurance) covers your personal belongings inside a rented property.

Here's what a typical policy covers:

✔️ Fire and smoke damage -- your stuff destroyed in a fire ✔️ Theft and burglary -- break-ins, stolen electronics, jewellery ✔️ Water damage -- burst pipes, flooding from other units ✔️ Electrical damage -- power surges destroying your appliances ✔️ Accidental damage (some policies) -- you knock your TV off the wall ✔️ Temporary accommodation -- if your apartment is uninhabitable and you need to stay elsewhere

Some policies also offer:

✔️ Personal liability -- if a guest is injured in your apartment ✔️ All-risk cover -- items covered even outside your home (laptops, phones)

Real Scenarios: Why This Matters in Nairobi

Let me give you some real situations I've seen with clients.

Scenario 1: The Kilimani Water Damage

A tenant in a Kilimani apartment came home to find water pouring through the ceiling. The neighbour upstairs left the bathtub running. Damaged: two laptops, a printer, several books, bedding, and a carpet.

Total loss: approximately KSh 180,000.

Landlord's insurance? Covered the ceiling repair. The tenant's belongings? Not a shilling.

Scenario 2: The Westlands Break-In

Ground floor apartment in Westlands. Thieves broke in through the back window while the tenant was at work. Took a TV, PlayStation, two phones, a watch, and cash.

Total loss: approximately KSh 250,000.

The landlord's insurance covered the broken window and the damaged door frame. The tenant's stolen items? Zero cover.

Scenario 3: The Syokimau Kitchen Fire

A cooking oil fire in a Syokimau apartment. The fire was contained to the kitchen but destroyed appliances, utensils, food supplies, and caused smoke damage to clothing and furniture in the living room.

Total loss: approximately KSh 120,000.

The landlord's insurance covered the kitchen renovation. The tenant replaced everything out of pocket.

How Much Does Tenant Insurance Cost?

This is the part that surprises everyone.

Tenant contents insurance in Kenya is cheap. Seriously cheap compared to what it protects.

That's roughly KSh 400-2,000 per month. Less than your DSTV subscription. Less than a Friday night out.

For cover that could save you hundreds of thousands of shillings.

Real talk: You're paying KSh 50,000-100,000/month in rent for a nice apartment in Nairobi. But you won't pay KSh 1,000/month to protect everything inside it? That doesn't make sense.

What You Need to Do to Get Covered

Getting tenant insurance in Kenya is straightforward:

1. Inventory your belongings. Walk through your apartment. List everything of value. Estimate replacement costs. This doesn't need to be perfect -- just reasonable.

2. Decide on a cover amount. Add up your inventory. Round up. You want enough to replace everything, not just the big items.

3. Talk to a broker. Get quotes from multiple insurers. Compare what's included and excluded.

4. Keep receipts. For expensive items (electronics, appliances), keep purchase receipts or photos. This makes claims much easier.

5. Review annually. Bought a new TV? Got an expensive gift? Update your cover amount.

Common Exclusions to Watch Out For

Every policy has exclusions. Here are the ones that catch tenants off guard:

👉 Valuables sub-limit. Your policy might cover KSh 1 million total but cap jewellery at KSh 50,000 and cash at KSh 10,000.

👉 Unoccupied property. If you leave your apartment empty for more than 30 consecutive days (travel, relocation), some policies void the cover.

👉 Gradual damage. A slow leak that damages your furniture over months? Usually excluded. Insurance covers sudden events, not gradual deterioration.

👉 Items in common areas. Your bicycle in the shared parking? Your shoes outside the door? Might not be covered.

👉 Domestic worker theft. Some policies exclude theft by household employees unless you file a police report.

The "It Won't Happen to Me" Trap

I hear this all the time.

"My building is secure." "I live on the 10th floor, who's going to break in?" "I've never had a fire."

Cool. Neither did any of my clients. Until it happened.

Insurance isn't for the things you expect. It's for the things you don't. That's literally the point.

A power surge doesn't care that your building has a backup generator. A burst pipe doesn't care that your apartment is on the top floor. A fire doesn't care that you've "never had one before."

For more details on home insurance options, see our home insurance guide.

Final Word

Your landlord's insurance protects their building. Not your life inside it.

Every piece of furniture, every appliance, every piece of clothing you own is sitting in that apartment completely unprotected. Unless you do something about it.

Tenant contents insurance costs less than your monthly coffee budget. And it could save you from a financial disaster that wipes out months of savings.

It's one of the most underused and underrated insurance products in Kenya. Don't learn its value the hard way.

🟢 Want to find out what tenant insurance would cost for your apartment? Talk to Keryl Insurance -- we'll help you get quotes and find the right cover for your stuff. Takes 10 minutes. Could save you everything.