Tenants Insurance

Wonder_Girl

Hiya,

We are moving in 2 weeks and are just about to return the agreements. however the contract states that we need adequate tenants insurance and must either return this with the agreement or provide proof of alternative insurance. We have been sent one to fill in from a company called Homelet, it looks standard enough but I was wondering if there are any companies people can recommend that do Residential tenancy insurance a bit cheaper? I know we have to have it but I would like to see the competition before I sign anything.

Thanks

WG x

silvercar

endsleigh specialise in students so should do good contents insurance. Tesco and directline are cheap.
Why not try the scraper sites like confused.com?

BobProperty

I slightly puzzled by this, so, assuming you are moving into a rented property, what right has the landlord to insist that you have "tenants insurance" whatever that is. I have the suspicion that the letting agent will be on a commission off Homelet for any policies sold.
Don't forget, you can only insure something you have an "interest" in. So you can't insure your landlords possessions and he (or she) can't insure your possessions.

silvercar

I thought wonder_girl was refering to contents insurance. A responsible landlord would remind the tenant that they are responsible for insuring their own stuff and wouldn't want a claim from the tenant if they weren't properly insured.

BobProperty

That's what I thought but there's a bit of a difference between "reminding" and "insisting on it in the tenancy agreement". I can't see that it would be legal or enforceable. Like I said, the landlord isn't responsible for the tenant's possessions and it is surely up to the tenant to decide if they want insurance.
Obviously, having insurance is sensible. Buying it through the letting agent is probably not "MoneySaving" though.

Astaroth

You could insist on it give that contents insurance for a tenant does include 3rd party liability cover for the damages caused to any of the landlords possessions in the flat. Personally havent heard of it before but can see a reason why a landlord would

Wonder_Girl

Thanks for all your replies, I found what I was looking for at Endsleigh, I was for their party damage insurance that they were after, as well as our own contents. I think it’s a bit of cheek demanding we have it tho, we paid a deposit which should cover any damage to the house and if we lose our break our own stuff that’s our problem! Anyway all sorted now for about half the price

Astaroth

I guess it depends what the flat is like and how furnished it is.... one place I was in for a short time was fully furnished including £2000 plasma screen/ £3000 home cinema/ £2500 stereo - dont know how much the sofas and such were as that bit doesnt interest me Whilst there was a substancial deposit paid it would have been no way enough to cover the "stuff" let alone the normal things like walls/ carpets etc if the place had been totalled by my negligance.

MortgageMamma

Why dont you have a look at rentguards policy, its pretty good, although I've never used endsleigh so I'm unable to offer you a comparison. http://www.rentguard.org/