Contents insurance for tenancy

consumer

dacouch wrote: »

The More Than policy covers you for damage you are liable for under the tenancy agreement and that you are legally/contractually liable for.

I think it does not cover accidental damage to Landlords fixtures/carpets etc.

dacouch

What you have to remember is a Landlord can only make you pay for things that you are contractually liable to repair / replace and / or are legally liable for. They cannot ask you to make good normal wear and tear.

The contents wording of the More Than Policy also cover damage to contents that are the legal responsibility of the Policyholder so should cover damage to landlords contents or carpets (Oviously you would need Accidental Damage cover if you want Accidental Damage to the carpets).

By contents we mean household goods and
personal effects which belong to or are the legal
responsibility of the insured or of resident
domestic employees, including money up to £250,
business equipment up to £7,500, business stock
and materials up to £2,500 and lawful visitors’
personal possessions up to £500 for each visitor

gosaimas

olly300 wrote: »

Are you in England and Wales? If so I suggest you look at the OFT guidelines on Unfair Terms in Tenancy agreements. Remember letting agents don't have to be licensed.

Also as you have indicated you don't normally insure items you don't have ownership of.

I looked at section 4.4 on page 48 of the OFT Unfair Terms in Tenancy agreements - and this is what it says:

"compulsory insurance – we object in particular to terms requiring
tenants to purchase specific insurance, or insurance provided by an
insurer specified by the landlord or agent. This may provide the
landlord or agent with additional income by way of commission at the
expense of the tenant having to pay higher premiums than on the open
market. In such circumstances this is effectively a disguised addition to
rent and, in the absence of market forces, the tenant will have no
protection against unreasonable premium increases (see also our
views below on compulsory contents insurance)."

From this I would assume that tenancy agreement clauses such as:

"you must have accidental cover for the landlord's building fixtures and fittings".

are unfair and therefore unenforceable??

Some letting agents (naming no names) will insure you with Homelet for your contents cover after a tenancy agreement is taken out unless you specifically ask them not to. They will try to add it to your rent. Of course this means you have no control over your outgoings each month. Homelet could double your insurance premium if they wanted to.

On the Homelet website under "Do I Become A Standard or Premier Agent link", Homelet boast to prospective new letting agents of their lucrative commision of 10%-25% on new insurance & renewals business! So they are bound to put clauses in their contracts which require tenants to take up landlord's buildings and fixtures insurance. Homelet seem to think they are the only people who supply such insurance (or at least that's what they told me when I quit them)!

IF you come to the conclusion that you DO require need this insurance (i.e. that the contract terms are fair), smaller insurance brokers such as Sutton Winson WILL add extra terms to a contents policy at a low cost to cover your landlords contents for accidental damage. They are underwritten by Royal Sun Alliance and offer similar or better policies to MoreThan (an RSA company).

Homelet charged me £205 per year for just £5k of contents insurance and a £500 pedal cycle. There was loads of caveats and large excesses regarding malicious damage. My new policy cost me £170 per year and covers me for £20k of contents including accidental damage and explicitly notes accidental damage to £2500 of landlord's contents. Also got up to £1000 of pedal cycle cover thrown in and legal expenses cover. Did I mention the small £50 excess.

It is very easy to obtain cover for accidental damage to your own property but not so easy to find accidental cover for the landlord's fixtures &fittings. How can you possibly know how much cover you require? The only off the shelf policy which provides this cover is Homelet's and that provides cover for up to £2500. So, as long as you get your insurer to match Homelet's cover you can't go wrong - but why should you have to cover the landlord's stuff?! Isn't that what a deposit is for??

MrsMarshall_2

Hi There

I work for a claims department for a large insurance company. If on the contents insurance there is tenants inmprovements cover, this will cover you for such things as re-decoration or laminate flooring. (This would normally be covered under buildings but if you did it yourself this would be covered under the tenants improvements sections.)
If the policy has liability cover and the tenancy agreements states that you are liable for the carpets that were already laid or the contents of a furnished rental home then the liability cover will apply to this as you are held legally responsible by the landlord as part of a contract.
Again this liability cover would apply to fixtures and fittings as long as the tenancy agreement holds you responsible for damage to it so as long as you make sure the tenancy agreement has this, you should be fine.

Hope that is helpful!