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What Insurance Do Renters Need?

What policies are key for renters, and what should they be aware of? For all our insurance beginners, here are some key facts you should know about insurance for renters.

Article
3 minute read2020-12-23
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Over the last decade, the number of people living in rented homes in the UK has increased significantly. This represents a rapidly changing society in a nation where home ownership has always been popular. As a result, many tenants may not be sure which insurance they need, and many are actually under insured. Here are some tips for ensuring you’re properly covered in your rented home.

Find out what you’re responsible for – and what your landlord is

If you rent your home, there are certain things you are responsible for and certain things you’re not. Your landlord is typically responsible for the property and its structure as well as fixtures and fittings that remain when you leave, including core appliances like the heating and toilet. In this instance, they would have to pay for repairs or replacements.

Something your landlord isn’t liable for is your possessions within your home. Even if they are damaged by an incident your landlord is responsible for, such as broken water pipes you may be the one that has to cover for the damage this might cause to your belongings.So, how can you ensure that your most prized assets are safe?

What insurance is key for renters?

Contents insurance is a must-have, if you want to protect your possessions. It covers your belongings in your home from risks, such as fire, theft, and water leaks. These types of hazards are outside of your control. But if you’re not insured for this, you could potentially lose a lot. Consider this: What impact would losing your most expensive possessions have on your financial situation? Would you be able to replace them?

What else should you consider?

Despite being a crucial policy for tenants, there are certain things that standard contents insurance doesn’t cover. Many companies do, however, offer extensions for policies. We currently offer five extensions for contents insurance. They are:

1. Personal possessions

The Personal Possessions extension covers your belongings outside your home. Say you take your laptop on holiday with you. Standard contents insurance won’t cover if your laptop is stolen, but the extension will.

2. Accidental damage

If you damaged your possessions accidentally, this typically wouldn’t be covered by a standard contents insurance policy, as you were responsible. The Accidental Damage extension even covers you in instances where you are responsible for breaking something unintentionally. However, you should be aware that this extension only applies to your own items, not your landlord’s.

3. Tenants liability

The Tenant’s Liability extension is a critical one if you rent your home, as it is designed exclusively for tenants. Basically, this extension covers you for any damage you are liable to pay your landlord for, such as broken windows. Unlike the Accidental Damage extension, the Tenants Liability extension also covers damage to what your landlord owns. This offers comprehensive protection to tenants

4. Home emergency

This can be particularly useful if you rent your home. Certain issues, such as bad water pipes should be covered by your landlord. However, the Home Emergency extension gives you extra peace of mind. If your home becomes unsafe and you need to stay somewhere else, for example, this extension will cover the costs and ensure you can resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

5. Legal protection

Again, this is another great extension for tenants. Legal protection will cover the costs for legal fees. It’s a sad fact of life that disputes between tenants and landlords are common. This additional level of coverage means you can always fight your corner. And it doesn’t just apply to tenancy. You can use this extension for any other legal disputes.

While there are other insurance policies that offer protection to renters, you can’t go wrong with a comprehensive contents insurance policy. With extensions, particularly those geared up to renters, you can focus on making your rented flat a home. To find out more about what our Contents insurance and extensions offer, visit our website.

Jacob
Author: Jacob