Letting Fees - Do I need to pay for Building insurance?

kesblondie

Hi,
We've had no end of trouble with Burcell Edwards Estate Agents, Shirley, Birmingham. Firstly they wanted to charge us £177 each admin fees for 2 people (inc VAT), they also wanted to charge extra £100 on the deposit as we have a dog. Which subsequently the landlady is ok with! We refused this and bartered them down to pay 1 admin fee (they were reluctant).
Anyway - we are now ready to sign the contract and in order for us to sign they want evidence that we have 'building contents & fixture' insurance for the landladies fixtures, building and some of the furniture (it comes with white goods!)
Am I right in thinking this is ludicrous considering the landlady / agency that are looking after the property and should have this already?
We should only be responsible for our own contents insurance? Am I right? I think it's another con from the Estate Agents, i.e. we get there with the 'incorrect' insurance and they whack another £50 on top....hey I know I'm being sceptical but in my experience estate agents charge ridiculous fees for not doing an awful amount of work...

Please advise...

clutton_2

you do not have to insure anything other than yoru own possessions....

Alias_Omega

Contents insurance should cover this.

It will be incase of theft, fire etc..

firstaspect

Yes buildings insurance is up to them. Contents insurance for your own personal stuff is all you should need.

aldredd

They are 100% responsible for buildings insurance - it's THEIR building, after all.
And I'm fairly certain that if THEY want THEIR possessions insured, then that is for THEM to do this.

That said, my letting agent had a fairly good deal going - If it look out contents & landlord fixtures insurance from their preferred provider (it was a reasonable premium), I could have a 1/3 knocked off the deposit required (1 month vs 1.5 month), so I went with it - perhaps ask if they do something similar?

mrcol1000

You need to ensure your contents insurance covers accidental damage to the landlady's items otherwise you could be charged for them.

alexia75

We've had the same thing with both of our private letting properties. They want you to insure the landlords' property (fixtures and fittings) against damage you might cause. Having talked to a few of the usual insurers none of them would do this because you can't insure somebody else's possessions - so you end up needing to get a specialised tenants' insurance policy which is more expensive.

Of course the landlord should have this covered by their own insurance and you can fight the LA on it, but in the end we decided we really really didn't want to lose the property over a few quid so we didn't contest it. Up to you whether you want to slug it out or not.

theartfullodger

I'd ask the landlord & agent (keep copy of your letter) for a copy of their buildings insurance. If they don't have sensible Landlord cover you are running severe risks (eg place burns down, you 'orribly burned, no insurance payout). If LL refuses to supply copy (ie has no cover) or policy looks suspect (eg normal "homeowner" cover, which also won't pay out) walk away & find somewhere else, safer, to rent.

Cheers!

Artful (LL since 2000)

G_M

Bear in mind insurance policies can be cancelled in the 1st 14 days.

So if the agents back you into a corner and insist, take out their stupid building policy, sign the tenancy agreement, move in, then cancel the policy and get a full refund.

Agents should not be doing this.

Pott5y

I am going through exactly this and I feel it is a complete rip off. I can get normal contents cover with accidental damage and personal possessions away from home etc (am at present renting and have contents cover with Zurich) for about £160.00.

Homelet have quoted like for like but with the £2500 landlords accidental damage cover for a mere £50.00 per month.... £600.00 per year. OK I could have their cheapest option £10.000 cover for a year but that is still £240.00 and I would be under-insured.

Also if it is against the law to insure other peoples property surely this must apply to companies like Homelet too.

It is just digusting!!

sonastin

Pott5y wrote: »

Also if it is against the law to insure other peoples property surely this must apply to companies like Homelet too.

It isn't against the law to insure other peoples property, its just that the standard off-the-shelf policies aren't written to cater for that situation. Which is why you end up with the specifically designed tenants policies which are unduly expensive because there isn't as much demand for them as for your typical insuring-your-own policies.

If they are really insistent that you pay for the insurance (and you want the place enough to agree) counter that you'll pay an increase on the rent equivalent to the policy cost - their policy will be cheaper than one you can purchase so net result is they get what they want with less coming out of your pocket. And the added bonus (as long as they don't go messing with the tenancy agreement) is that you're protected if premiums go up (assuming fixed rent) and they have to pick up the excess because it is their insurance policy.