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Property Insurance in Bulgaria
What owners, buyers, landlords and tenants generally consider when insuring a property in Bulgaria — and how to ask Imperium for information.
Where Imperium stands
An information service, not an insurer
Imperium Real Estate operates a property marketplace. We are not an insurance company, not an insurance intermediary, and we do not underwrite policies, assess risk or give regulated insurance advice. Nothing on this page is a quotation, an offer of cover or a promise that any insurer will accept an application.
What this page does is set out the questions that come up repeatedly when people buy, own or let property, so that a conversation with an insurer or a licensed intermediary starts from a clearer position. If you would like general information, the form below reaches our team directly.
Owners
Property insurance for homeowners
An owner is generally concerned with two things: the cost of repairing or rebuilding the property after damage, and liability towards other people affected by something that happens at the property. In an apartment building, part of the structure is usually the responsibility of the owners' association, so it is worth establishing what the building already covers before deciding what to arrange individually.
Sums insured are the part most often left unexamined. A figure chosen years ago may no longer relate to what rebuilding or replacing belongings would cost today, and cover set too low can affect what is paid out.
Buying
Insurance when buying a property
When a purchase completes, responsibility for the property moves, and most buyers want cover in place from that moment rather than after it. Where a purchase is financed, the lender commonly sets its own conditions about the cover it expects on the property; those conditions come from the lender and should be confirmed directly with them.
For an older building it is also worth understanding the condition of roof, plumbing and electrical installations before insuring, because insurers ask about them and because repair history influences what is sensible to cover.
Letting
Insurance for rental properties and landlords
A let property raises questions an owner-occupied home does not. Who is responsible for the contents — the landlord for anything supplied furnished, the tenant for their own belongings. What happens if the property cannot be let after damage. What liability arises towards a tenant or a visitor. Insurers usually want to know that the property is let, and on what basis, because a policy written for owner-occupation may not respond in the same way.
Tenants generally insure their own belongings rather than the structure, and often look at liability for damage they may cause to the property they rent.
Structure and belongings
Buildings versus contents cover
Buildings cover concerns the structure and what is permanently attached to it. Contents cover concerns what can be taken away — furniture, appliances, personal belongings. The boundary between the two is where most misunderstandings sit: fitted kitchens, built-in wardrobes, flooring and sanitary ware are treated differently by different insurers, so it is worth asking explicitly which side of the line they fall on.
Optional protection may be available from insurers alongside the main cover, for example in relation to liability, accidental damage, glass, or assistance services. Availability, conditions and exclusions differ per insurer and per policy, and are decided by the insurer rather than by Imperium.
New-build
Insurance considerations for new-build property
A new-build introduces a sequence: the developer normally carries risk during construction, the buyer takes on responsibility at handover, and any construction guarantees provided by the developer sit alongside — not instead of — an insurance policy. Establishing the handover date, what the developer's guarantees cover and for how long, and when your own cover should begin avoids a gap at exactly the moment the property becomes yours.
Before you decide
Questions worth asking
- What exactly is insured — the structure, the contents, or both?
- How is the sum insured calculated, and is it based on rebuilding or on market value?
- Which causes of damage are excluded, and under what conditions?
- What does the building's own policy already cover, if it is an apartment?
- Does the property being let, empty, or under renovation change the cover?
- What is the excess, and how are claims handled and paid?
- Does a lender impose conditions of its own?
Check the policy itself
Ask us
Request insurance information
Tell us your situation and we will come back with general information. Your details stay inside Imperium and are not sent to an insurer.
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