If you are renting a property, as a tenant, what sort of insurance do you need?

If you are renting a property, be it from a private landlord or from a council or local authority, you are not responsible for insuring the building itself. This is the responsibility of whoever owns the building.

Your landlord or council / local authority will have taken out buildings insurance which covers any damage to the structure and fabric of the building. Therefore, in the event of a fire, the buildings insurance will cover the cost of any remedial works.

However, you should be aware, that as a tenant, the buildings insurance does not cover any of your personal property.

As such, in the event of a fire, if your belongings were damaged or destroyed you are not covered under the owner of the property’s buildings insurance. Similarly, should the property which you rent be broken into, and your belongings stolen, again you are not covered under the buildings insurance.

As such, if you are renting you should really consider home insurance to protect your belongings in the event of a fire, flood, theft etc.

You do not need to get buildings insurance as that will be covered by the owner of the property, you simply need an insurance policy to protect your belongings. This is called contents insurance.

Contents Insurance Advice for Tenants

Most importantly, we would advise tenants to ensure that they select their insurance carefully and ensure that they choose a policy which provides adequate cover for all of their possessions (including furniture, TVs, stereos, computers, clothing, valuables, household appliances etc).

If you rent a furnished or part-furnished property bear in mind that you may also be responsible for loss or damage to these items whilst you are living in the property. Check your tenancy agreement to see if you are liable – if so, make sure that these items are also covered under your contents insurance.

If you own something particularly valuable you may need to get extra cover. Remember, it’s far better to take the time to check that you are adequately covered at the time of taking out the policy, rather than finding out that you don’t have sufficient cover when you need to make a claim.

Finally, make sure you keep your insurer appraised of any changes – for example – if you move, make sure you let your insurance provider know so they can make any necessary amends to your policy. Similarly, if you purchase anything new – e.g. a new TV, make sure that your existing policy still offers adequate cover.

The Citizens Advice Bureau have produced an excellent guide to Contents Insurance – click here to read more.