Every commercial lease contains an insurance clause, and it is usually the least-read page in the document. It also decides who pays when something goes wrong in a space you do not own.
Waiver of subrogation cuts both ways
Most leases require each party to waive subrogation against the other, meaning your insurer gives up the right to recover from your landlord even when the landlord caused the loss. Carriers will endorse this, but they need to be told; a waiver you signed and never reported can become a coverage dispute.
Additional insured status is not mutual
Landlords routinely require tenants to name them as additional insured. Tenants rarely ask for the same in return, which means the landlord’s policy answers to them and yours answers to both of you. Ask for reciprocity; it costs nothing to request at signing and is nearly impossible to add later.
Improvements and betterments belong to somebody
The fit-out you paid for may be covered by your policy, the landlord’s, or neither, depending on how the lease defines ownership of improvements. Read that definition and insure to match it. Two policies that both assume the other one covers the build-out is the common and expensive outcome.
Business interruption needs the landlord’s timeline
Your income coverage runs while the premises are unusable, but the repair schedule is the landlord’s to set. If the lease gives them a long window to rebuild, your twelve-month limit may expire before you can reopen. Extended period of indemnity is the fix.
Where to start
Pull the insurance article out of your lease and put it next to your declarations page. Every mismatch between the two is a gap somebody will argue about later.
