Landlords often have insurance to cover the property and potentially the fixtures and fittings but they aren’t responsible for insuring their tenants’ possessions.
According to recent research, almost half of private tenants in the UK currently have no contents cover for their possessions.
What exactly is tenants contents insurance and why do tenants need it? Simply put, contents insurance is there to help protect your possessions if anything happens to them. No matter how careful you are, there’s always a risk that your personal possessions could be stolen, damaged or broken.
To give you peace of mind, contents insurance ensures that, should the worst come to the worst and your personal possessions are damaged or stolen, you’ll have the means to cover and recoup the cost.
What’s included in HomeLet's Tenants Contents Insurance policy and how much does it cost?
A good contents insurance policy doesn’t only protect your personal possessions, it also covers accidental damage to a landlord’s furniture, fixtures and fittings, giving you further peace of mind. If you know you won’t be liable for accidental damage and the cost this accrues, it’ll help you to feel far more at ease in the rental property you call home.
What’s more, contents insurance doesn’t cost as much as you might think. At HomeLet, for example, our insurance starts from £11* per month for £50,000 of contents cover – which is just over 35p a day.
Contents cover includes protection from fire, thefts and flood. Such disastrous events may be rare, but having cover can give you peace of mind, that in the event of such an incident, the replacement of your items could be covered.
Personal computers, clothes, jewellery, TVs, DVDs, video and audio equipment and other electronic items are all included as part of our contents insurance cover, and should you wish to do so, we offer a range of additional extras including;
- Full accidental damage cover for your possessions
- Enhanced pedal cycle cover (if you feel our standard policy cover up to the value of £500 isn’t enough)
- Away from home cover
- Specified item cover – for higher value items such as jewellery or an expensive guitar
- Personal legal protection
Do most tenants have contents insurance?
For many tenants, insurance may not be considered a priority – being seen as a luxury or a nice thing to have rather than a necessity. Research recently carried out backs this up, particularly among younger tenants. According to research carried out by the Financial Inclusion Commission, 60% of tenants with an income of less than £15,000 don’t have contents insurance, with under 40s - the most likely demographic to be renting – are the least likely to have cover with 81% who currently don’t have contents insurance.
However, this figure appears to drop as tenants get older. 67% of over 65s who rent do have contents insurance – citing ‘peace of mind’ as a top priority to protect their belongings.
Home insurance isn't just for home owners
In life, we take many steps to protect ourselves, from online banking passwords to locks on our doors. We also take out life and travel insurance to give ourselves further peace of mind. So why wouldn’t we want to do the same for our personal possessions?
At HomeLet, with over 30 years experience in the rental sector, we fully understand the unique risks faced by tenants and as a result we offer an insurance cover which combines contents cover and tenancy liability together in one simple policy. So not only are you covering your own possessions, you are protecting yourself against the risk of deposit deductions too, should you accidentally damage your landlord’s items.
Our policy is smart too. It can move with you so you don’t have to worry about arranging cover again if you move and it even covers your contents during a move if they are damaged by your removal firm.
Find out more about our Tenants Contents Insurance including Tenancy Liability.
*Cover starts at £11 per month, when purchased online, for £50,000 of contents cover and £10,000 of Tenancy Liability cover. This price includes Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) at the current rate, as set by HMRC. Please note that a monthly admin fee of £1.99 will be payable if you choose to pay for your policy monthly.