I’m a renter - what are my home insurance options?

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Woman in orange jumper opening the door to her apartment

If you’re one of the millions of people renting across Britain, the things we own – our clothes, furniture and electrical items – are what make a home. Looking after and insuring these possessions is therefore vital, as the physical space that they inhabit is generally not so important.

Of course, there’s more than one kind of renter, including lodgers, sharers and students. So Admiral provides two types of home insurance for people who are renting, tailoring the cover to reflect people’s different circumstances.

Whatever type of renter you are, your policy will insure against theft, vandalism, or damage by fire or water. 

Contents insurance for renters

If you’re renting the whole home, whether solo, with your partner or as a family, your landlord will be responsible for insuring the physical building. That leaves you to insure the contents, including your possessions and the interior decor.

Many of these policies provide cover for replacement locks/keys, cash kept at home, frozen food and tenants’ liability. This last one is very helpful for tenants, as it can cover the cost of repair to your landlords’ fixtures and fittings if they’re damaged accidentally. These are all covered as standard through Admiral Contents Insurance.

You can usually choose from levels of cover, depending on how much you have to protect. Take some time thinking about how much it would cost to replace everything in your home, including furniture, carpets and wall coverings, and find out from your landlord what’s already covered through their policy.

Tenants insurance

If you’re renting in any kind of capacity, you probably think of yourself as a tenant. So why is renters content insurance different to the cover provided by a regular contents insurance policy? If you live in a house or flat-share, you might not want to cover the contents of the whole property, and simply want to cover your own possessions.

Tenants insurance is designed to protect items you own against damage or theft by someone you don’t live with. The cover usually insures your possessions whether they’re in your bedroom or in communal spaces, like the kitchen and lounge.

Tenants insurance also often includes:

  • Tenant liability cover
  • Insuring accidental damage to windows, glass doors, mirrors and the bathroom suite

Admiral Tenants and Renters Insurance comes in three levels. When getting a quote, you’ll be asked who lives at the property; you should answer ‘Yourself in a shared property’.

Student insurance

Students at university have a couple of options. You can either take out tenants insurance, or you may be covered under your parents’ cover, for example, if they have Admiral Platinum Home Insurance.

This covers your personal possessions up to £5,000 in university halls of residence or other student accommodation. Some insurers only cover you if they’re stored in a locked room, while others only apply if force or violence is used to gain entry. 

Tenants insurance won’t cover you for theft or damage caused by one of your housemates, or other people invited into your property, even if you personally didn’t invite them. And due to the busy nature of student houses you won’t be covered in the event that any of your stuff goes missing after a party or study group held in your house, flat or halls of residence

Accidental Damage cover

If you're worried something might get accidentally damaged, you can add Accidental Damage cover to you home insurance. It covers common accidents in the home such as:

  • TVs knocked off stands
  • Carpets burned by hair straighteners
  • Sofas ruined by DIY disasters or spilled tea

Audiovisual equipment, mirrors and glass is included as standard on Admiral Gold policies, and full contents accident damage cover is standard on Admiral Platinum policies.

Personal Possessions cover

This insures any item up to a specified value, usually £2,000, that may be worn or carried about your person while away from your home, such as your mobile phone, bicycle or jewellery. Admiral Platinum Insurance includes up to £2,000 of personal possessions cover as standard. You can extend this up to £20,000 optionally.

This can represent good value when compared to insuring these items individually, and it covers things like accidental damage and theft of these items.

High value items

If you own any individual items worth more than £2,000 – such as designer watches, or expensive smartphones – these must be insured separately and declared on your renters insurance. These are then insured for home and away.

High value items include works of art, extensive collections, musical instruments, computer equipment, photographic equipment, antiques/collectables, and other specific items.

Admiral Home Insurance - the benefits

  • You must be over 18 to take out Admiral Home Insurance
  • Admiral Contents Insurance is available in three levels: Admiral, Gold or Platinum
  • Admiral covers contents up to £75k, Gold is £100k and Platinum increases the limit to £150k.
  • Each level of cover adds extra benefits. And you can use our contents calculator to find out how much your possessions are worth.

How you can pay for home insurance 

You’ll be given the option of paying in a single payment by credit or debit card or, in most cases, over 12 monthly instalments via Direct Debit. Monthly payments are only available if you’re aged 18 or over.

The easy way to manage your policy on the go

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