If you’re one of the millions of people renting across Britain, you know it’s the things we own that make a house a home.
From clothes to furniture and gadgets, it’s important your belongings are protected if something goes wrong.
Our handy guide explains what renters or tenants insurance is, and what it means for you.
What does renters' insurance cover?
If you’re renting your home, your landlord will probably have insurance for the actual building. But it’s up to you to make sure your belongings, like your furniture and tech, are protected too.
That’s where contents insurance can come in handy. It covers your belongings against fire, damage and theft.
You might also hear it called renters insurance or tenants insurance, but they mean the same thing.
Some insurers won’t cover you if you live in a shared home – but we do!
Do you need renters insurance?
Unlike car insurance, renters insurance isn’t a legal requirement.
But unfortunately, you can’t always predict what’s going to happen – and sometimes, things go wrong!
Think about what you’d do if there was a fire and you lost some or all of the belongings in your home.
Renters insurance is there to give you a safety net if something happens to your treasured possessions.
If you’re a homeowner or a landlord, you’d need to look at home insurance or landlord insurance instead.
How do I know how much my contents are worth?
To get the right cover, you need to know how much your belongings are actually worth.
It might take a bit of time to work out, but it’s worth it in case you need to make a claim in the future.
If you’re not sure how much your belongings are worth, you can use our handy contents calculator to find out.
High value items
If you own anything that’s worth over £2,000, like a designer watch or expensive smartphone, you’ll need to declare them on your insurance.
We call these high-risk items. It’s important we know about them so you’re not left out of pocket if you need to make a claim.
These might include things like:
- jewellery
- artwork
- musical instruments
- computer equipment
- photography equipment
- antiques or collectables
Cover for your belongings away from home
Sometimes, you need to take your belongings outside of your flat or home. But how do you keep them protected?
It depends on your insurer. Normally you can choose an add-on or extra cover to protect your things outside your home too.
With us, our Platinum home insurance includes some cover away from home.
But you can also add Personal Possessions cover to any level of cover to protect your belongings in case something happens while you’re out and about anywhere in the world.
Accidental damage cover
Sometimes, things can get broken or damaged by accident. Like your child accidentally breaking your TV while playing or spilling a drink on your sofa.
Whatever it is, accidents happen! That’s why it can be useful to have Accidental Damage cover.
With us, whether you have it depends what level of cover you have:
- Our Platinum cover includes full Accidental Damage as standard
- Our Gold cover includes some Accidental Damage cover
- Our Admiral level of cover doesn’t include it, so you’d need to buy it as an add-on
Just remember, we won’t cover any accidents that happened before you added it to your policy.
Are my housemates’ items covered under my renters insurance policy?
No – if you live with housemates, their belongings won’t be covered on your contents policy.
They’d need to buy their own cover to make sure their things are protected.
Is my bike covered by renters insurance?
Yes, it should be! It just depends how much your bike is worth.
We’ll automatically cover your bike if it’s worth £350 or less. If it’s worth more, you’ll need to add it as a specified item on your policy – but we can still cover it.
Remember, policy limits and exclusions apply – whatever type of cover you have and whoever you’re insured with! It’s always a good idea to check your policy documents carefully to understand what you are and aren’t covered for.
