Home insurance in Sweden and what it covers
In Sweden, home insurance is called hemförsäkring. It usually combines cover for your belongings with personal liability, legal expenses, travel and assault cover. Accidental damage cover, known as allrisk or drulle, may be included in a larger package or offered as an extra. There is no general legal requirement to have hemförsäkring, although some landlords require it. This guide explains the Swedish cover and what to check for your type of home.
What a Swedish home insurance policy includes
The examples below describe the main parts of the cover. Payment always depends on the event and the policy terms.
| Cover | What it can help with |
|---|---|
| Belongings — egendomsskydd | Loss or damage following events such as a fire, water leak or burglary. |
| Personal liability — ansvarsskydd | Investigating a claim for damages against you and paying if you are liable and the claim is covered. |
| Legal expenses — rättsskydd | The cost of a legal representative in certain disputes. Not every dispute qualifies. |
| Travel — reseskydd | Acute illness or an accident during a trip, within the policy's time limit and other conditions. |
| Assault — överfallsskydd | Compensation if you are assaulted and meet the policy conditions. |
Identity theft assistance is included in many policies, but not all. Also check the cover for necessary additional living expenses if an insured event makes your home uninhabitable.
Whether you need home insurance in Sweden
Sweden has no general law requiring you to buy hemförsäkring. A landlord can nevertheless require it. Read your tenancy agreement and ask the landlord what applies.
The need for cover goes beyond the value of your possessions. Legal disputes, claims for damages and illness while travelling can also involve substantial costs. Konsumenternas recommends home insurance regardless of the type of home you live in. Without cover, you bear costs that an applicable policy could otherwise pay. A demand for damages does not, by itself, mean you are legally liable.
Cover for rented homes, bostadsrätt apartments and houses
A rented home
For a rented home, or hyresrätt, hemförsäkring covers your belongings and provides the personal protections described above. The landlord's building insurance does not replace your own home insurance.
A bostadsrätt apartment
A bostadsrätt is a Swedish form of housing in which you hold the right to use a home through membership of a housing association. Boverket explains Swedish housing arrangements, in Swedish.
As the holder of a bostadsrätt, you also need bostadsrättstillägg: cover for parts of the apartment you are responsible for, such as certain fixtures and fittings. The association may provide this collectively. Check its scope, deductible and claims procedure before choosing your own cover. Collective bostadsrätt cover does not replace hemförsäkring for you and your belongings.
A house you own
For an owner-occupied house, including a terraced house held with direct ownership, you also need cover for the building and plot. A combined policy is often called villahemförsäkring. Check which buildings are listed in the policy. A mortgage lender may impose insurance requirements.
Three areas where you may need additional cover
Accidental damage to your belongings
Having hemförsäkring does not mean every mishap is covered. If you drop your laptop, allrisk or drulle cover may be relevant. It may be included or available as an extra. Normal wear and tear is excluded, and the cover still has exclusions and requirements to take reasonable care of your belongings.
Longer trips and cancellation
Travel cover often applies for the first 45 days, but the duration varies. Check that the whole trip, including your return journey, is covered. Extending the number of insured days is different from adding benefits such as cancellation cover. Arrange any extra protection before departure, in line with your insurer's rules. Folksam illustrates the distinction between cover for longer trips and additional travel benefits, in Swedish.
Illness and accidents in everyday life
Hemförsäkring does not replace separate sickness or accident insurance. Its travel cover may nevertheless help with acute illness or an accident on a trip.
Who the policy covers
One policy can cover several people in a household, but insurers set different requirements. Check whether people must share a household, be registered at the address in the Swedish population register (folkbokföring), or be named in the policy schedule (försäkringsbrev). Do not assume that everyone at the same address is automatically covered, especially in shared accommodation or when someone rents a room.
Deductibles and the value of your belongings
The deductible, självrisk, is the part of a covered claim you pay yourself. Valuation rules, deductions for age and maximum compensation amounts can also affect the payment. You will not necessarily receive an item's original purchase price.
A simplified hypothetical example: an insurer accepts a claim and values the lost item at SEK 5,000 after any valuation deductions. With a SEK 1,500 deductible and no other limits, the payment is SEK 3,500. These figures illustrate the calculation; they are not an insurer's quoted terms.
You need to show what you owned and its value. A receipt is useful, but photographs or bank statements can also help. For more detail, read our guide to home insurance claims without a receipt, in Swedish.
How to compare policies
Compare the policy schedules and the full terms using the same questions:
- Are the type of home, address and insured people correct?
- Which protections and optional extras are included in the price?
- What deductible applies to the event you want cover for?
- How are your belongings valued, and what compensation limits apply?
- Does the travel cover fit your trips?
- What will the premium be after any temporary discounts end?
Write down anything you cannot confirm and ask the insurer to explain before choosing a policy. You can also read how insurAGI works.
Sources and scope
This article concerns insurance in Sweden. Information was checked on 6 October 2026 against the linked guidance from Konsumenternas Försäkringsbyrå, Boverket and the insurers cited. Insurer examples explain how cover works and are not a ranking. Your policy schedule and the applicable terms determine your cover and any payment.
Further sources used in this guide (in Swedish):
- Konsumenternas: the main parts of home insurance
- If: home insurance, requirements and personal protection
- Konsumenternas: why you need home insurance
- Konsumenternas: bostadsrätt insurance
- Konsumenternas: house insurance
- If: insurance requirements when taking out a mortgage
- ICA Försäkring: accidental damage cover (allrisk or drulle)
- Konsumenternas: who the policy covers
- Konsumenternas: valuation and evidence
15+ years in enterprise technology and cybersecurity at Vectra AI, Symantec, and Blue Coat Systems. Scaled the Nordic region from zero to more than €10M in annual revenue. Leads product, strategy, and go-to-market at InsurAGI.