Cannabis farm claims hit £9.4m: what landlords should check

The data

Source: Zurich UK, 17 September 2026.

Freedom of information responses from 21 UK fire and rescue services, obtained by Zurich and released on 17 September 2026, show attendances at suspected or identified cannabis farms rose 218 percent between 2015 and 2024. The annual figures are 17 in 2015, 9 in 2016, 14 in 2017, 15 in 2018, 34 in 2019, 49 in 2020, 41 in 2021, 44 in 2022, 39 in 2023, a record 54 in 2024 and 50 in 2025. The increase between 2019 and the 2024 peak was 59 percent. The 2024 figure is the highest in the eleven year series, and the 2025 total of 50 is the second highest.

The geographic spread is uneven. South Wales Fire and Rescue Service recorded the highest number of any service, 90 suspected or identified cannabis farms over seven years, peaking at 25 in 2020. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service attended 56 over a decade, and Hereford and Worcester recorded 55. Separately, Home Office analysis identified 640 cannabis farm fires across the UK between 2019 and 2024, a figure that captures fires rather than all attendances and points to the same upward trend in the underlying activity.

The claims picture follows the incident data. Since January 2022, Zurich's Claims Investigation Unit Major Loss team has investigated 17 cannabis farm-related claims with a combined value of 9.4 million pounds. Zurich UK sells commercial property, landlord and municipal insurance, so the claims it sees sit directly alongside the policies held by the landlords affected. Scott Clayton, Head of Claims Fraud for Zurich UK, says: 'What we're increasingly seeing is organised criminal groups targeting empty shops, offices and retail premises, often hiding in plain sight on high streets across the UK.' He adds that robust due diligence, regular inspections and a willingness to question unusual behaviour are among the most effective protections.

What the damage actually is

Stewart Powell, Regional Major Loss Lead for Zurich UK, describes the pattern of damage in the claims his team handles: 'We've seen claims involving dangerous electrical alterations, extensive water damage from irrigation systems, widespread damp and mould, and significant structural changes made to conceal growing operations.' He says landlords can face months of disruption and repair bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Zurich says investigators have found commercial units extensively altered for cultivation, with electrical systems tampered with to meet energy demands, leaving landlords facing reinstatement work and lengthy vacancy.

The individual elements compound each other. Electrical systems are bypassed or rewired to carry cultivation loads far beyond the design of the installation, which creates a fire risk and leaves the supply in a condition that cannot simply be switched back on. Irrigation systems run continuously and produce water damage that spreads through floors, ceilings and partitions. Damp and mould follow, and in a commercial unit that has been sealed and screened, the conditions for both are close to ideal. Structural changes made to conceal the operation, from internal partitions to ducting and screening, have to be removed before the building can be used for anything else.

The consequence is a property that cannot be reoccupied until reinstatement work is complete. Zurich says the result is months of disruption, reinstatement work and repair bills into the hundreds of thousands before a building can be reoccupied. Zurich also says organised groups increasingly target empty shops, offices and retail units rather than remote industrial sites, which places the risk on high streets and in ordinary commercial parades rather than in isolated locations where unusual activity might attract more attention.

KT: where a landlord stands on a claim

The insurance question usually turns on three policy terms rather than on the criminal act itself. Most commercial and landlord property policies contain unoccupancy conditions restricting cover once a property has been empty beyond a stated period, commonly 30 or 45 days, and require specified checks during that period. Where a property has been left empty beyond the stated period without the required checks, the insurer may reduce or decline a claim. The second term is the inspection condition. Policies often require documented inspections at stated intervals, which is why a tenant asking for inspection clauses to be removed from a lease is a warning sign with direct insurance consequences.

The third term covers illegal use and malicious damage. Cover for damage caused by tenants varies between policies, and damage arising from an illegal activity that the insured permitted or failed to detect can be contested. The practical effect is that the strength of a claim often depends less on what happened than on what the landlord can show was done beforehand. A landlord who cannot evidence inspections is in a materially weaker position, whatever the policy says. Zurich's own guidance places robust due diligence, regular inspections and a willingness to question unusual behaviour among the most effective protections, which is a statement about claims outcomes as much as about prevention.

There is a separate legal layer. Abstracting electricity by bypassing a meter is an offence under the Theft Act 1968, and the energy supplier will need to be told, with the landlord potentially pursued for unpaid consumption. Possession of the property follows the usual route through the courts unless the tenant has abandoned it. Under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 it is an offence for a landlord to evict a residential occupier without following the proper court process, so a landlord who changes the locks without a court order risks committing an offence. The insurance position and the legal position have to be managed together, because steps taken to secure the property can affect both.

What to do on discovering one

Do not enter or disturb the property. Cultivation sites carry live electrical bypasses and structural alterations, and the fire risk that follows from tampered electrics is the reason the fire service data exists in the first place. Report it to the police and obtain a crime reference, notify the insurer immediately even before the extent of the damage is known, and arrange an electrical safety inspection before anyone re-enters. Zurich's claims experience shows that reinstatement work and lengthy vacancy follow, so the sequence of notification matters: an insurer told early has more options than one told after remedial work has begun.

Tampering with the meter is an offence under the Theft Act 1968 and the energy supplier will need to be told. The landlord may be pursued for unpaid consumption, which is a liability that sits alongside the physical damage and is not always covered by the property policy. Possession of the property follows the usual route through the courts unless the tenant has abandoned it. Under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 it is an offence for a landlord to evict a residential occupier without following the proper court process, and a landlord who changes the locks without a court order risks committing an offence.

The order of operations therefore runs from safety to evidence to notification to recovery. Nobody enters until an electrical safety inspection has been carried out. The police report and crime reference are obtained. The insurer is notified immediately, before the extent is known. The supplier is told about the meter. Possession is pursued through the courts unless abandonment can be established. Each step feeds the next, and the documentation generated along the way is what a landlord will rely on if the claim is questioned on inspection or unoccupancy grounds.

The checks that come first

Zurich's pre-letting questions for commercial landlords include a tenant paying the asking rent without negotiation, a long lease taken without solicitors, an unrealistic business activity, identification or proof of address that is hard to verify, a tenant living far from the property, cash deposits or rent, a request to remove inspection clauses from the lease, no history of operating commercial premises, and a newly incorporated company with little financial history. Each of these is a question to ask before completion rather than a conclusion, and the combination of several in one letting is what Zurich's investigators describe as the pattern behind the claims they handle.

The warning signs once a property is let are equally specific. Zurich lists the business never trading, a sublet request soon after possession, a tenant avoiding inspections, rent becoming hard to collect, contact from local authorities about unpaid business rates or from utility providers about unpaid bills, internal partitions installed without reason, security shutters or screening, external ducting appearing without permission, blacked-out windows, excessive condensation, strong unusual odours, altered electrics and unusually high humidity. Several of these are visible from outside the property, which matters because the inspection condition in a policy requires checks at stated intervals and those checks have to be documented.

The link between the checks and the claim is direct. Unoccupancy conditions restrict cover once a property has been empty beyond a stated period, commonly 30 or 45 days, and require specified checks. Inspection conditions require documented inspections at stated intervals. A landlord who has kept records of those inspections, and who has acted on what they showed, is in a different position from one who has not. Zurich's own summary of the protections that work, robust due diligence, regular inspections and a willingness to question unusual behaviour, is a description of the evidence an insurer will ask for when a cannabis farm claim arrives.

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Frequently asked questions

How much have cannabis farm claims cost insurers?

Since January 2022, Zurich's Claims Investigation Unit Major Loss team has investigated 17 cannabis farm-related claims with a combined value of 9.4 million pounds. Zurich UK sells commercial property, landlord and municipal insurance.

How far have fire service callouts to cannabis farms risen?

Attendances at suspected or identified cannabis farms rose 218 percent, from 17 in 2015 to a record 54 in 2024, according to FOI data obtained from 21 UK fire and rescue services by Zurich and released on 17 September 2026. The increase between 2019 and the 2024 peak was 59 percent, and 50 attendances were recorded in 2025.

Which fire services recorded the most attendances?

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service recorded the highest number, 90 suspected or identified cannabis farms over seven years, peaking at 25 in 2020. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service attended 56 over a decade, and Hereford and Worcester recorded 55.

What damage does a cannabis farm cause to a commercial property?

Stewart Powell, Regional Major Loss Lead for Zurich UK, describes claims involving dangerous electrical alterations, extensive water damage from irrigation systems, widespread damp and mould, and significant structural changes made to conceal growing operations. He says landlords can face months of disruption and repair bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Which policy terms decide whether a landlord's claim is paid?

Most commercial and landlord property policies contain unoccupancy conditions restricting cover once a property has been empty beyond a stated period, commonly 30 or 45 days, and inspection conditions requiring checks at stated intervals. Cover for damage caused by tenants varies, and damage arising from an illegal activity the insured permitted or failed to detect can be contested. A landlord who cannot evidence inspections is in a materially weaker position.