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.
That means we want to make sure these things are looked after properly and protected if something goes wrong.
We discuss your options for insurance as a renter.
Contents insurance for renters
If you’re renting a 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 any interior decor.
Contents insurance should help cover you these things against loss, theft, damage or vandalism.
It may also include tenants' liability. This one can be helpful for renters, it can cover the cost of repair to your landlords’ fixtures and fittings if they’re damaged accidentally.
When buying contents insurance, take some time thinking about how much it would cost to replace everything in your home, including furniture, carpets and wall coverings.
Also, it's a good idea to 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 a regular contents insurance policy?
If you live in a house or flat-share with other people, you might not want to cover the contents of the whole property, and just want to cover your own belongings.
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.
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 our 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 with 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 your contents 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
High value items
If you own any individual items worth more than £2,000 – such as designer watches, or expensive smartphones – these will need to be declared on your insurance to be covered.
High value items include things like:
- works of art
- musical instruments
- computer equipment
- photographic equipment
- antiques/collectables
