Tenants Contents Insurance

Pott5y

I am about to move into a new rented unfurnished property and the letting company insists I need to have a contents insurance policy which includes for £2500 of accidental damage cover to the landlords fixtures, fittings and furnishings ie. carpets and fridge freezer, washing machine etc

My current policy includes for accidental damage to my contents, personal possessions away from the home and £50,000 contents. I get this for about £160.00 per year

For comparible insurance inc the landlords contents cover I have been quoted very high rates (£50.00 per month) by Homelet and other 'specialist' letting agents insurance companies.

a. Does anyone know of any of the mainstream Insurers who include this within their policies.

b. Is there anyway of getting around this requirement from my letting agent

I have also posted this on the Insurance Board as not sure best place to ask this question.

Thanks in advance

Gwhiz

You must have a ton of stuff to insure as Homelet costs me around £10 per month.

Pott5y

Min cover they would give me was for £20 per month and that only covered me for £10,000.

Now when you are furnishing a 3 bed house and all personal belongings I know for a fact that £10000 would no where near cover replacing everything if I lost it all in one go. Unlikely I know but possible.

Also my point is.. to get comparible cover with just the additional Landlords Contents cover is going to cost me in excess of £600 per year with Homelet as apposed to £160.00 without it by my current provider. Thats £440.00 just for the Landlords cover..... Hmmmmm:mad:

Gwhiz

Why not take out the absolute min with Homelet and keep your insurance going too? Might be cheaper.

sonastin

Offer to self-insure. £440 goes along way to replacing a fridge / dishwasher / etc. If you're there for a few years, you could buy the LL a whole new set when you move out with what you've saved not taking out that insurance (but probably wouldn't have to unless you're really unlucky!)

Orpheo

Shiela's Wheels. £52.65 for the whole year. It covers me for £25K of contents. 5K for my liabilities as a tennant, although I would probably cover any such costs myself.

Also, always check your home insurance policy if you are moving house. Most policies cover your contents during the removal and you don't need to buy ludicrously priced insurance from the remover.

Oh. And I'm not even a Shiela. I have man-bits.

Meatballs

The insurance they want for landlords fitting and fixtures is called your deposit. Don't buy insurance from the money grabbing toads.

Office of Fair Trading - Guidance on unfair terms in
tenancy agreements

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).

unnecessary insurance requirements - we consider that whether
tenants wish to insure their own personal belongings is a matter for
them and that it is unreasonable for the landlord to make this a
contractual requirement.

Unfair term
Insurance, this is not negotiable. The
tenant will be required to take out
our (ie: the agent's) insurance
against accidental damage to the
landlord's fixtures and fittings.

Way of revising term
The tenant is advised to take out
insurance for the tenant's contents.

Basically you can just nod and say you're going to do it even if it's written on your tenancy contract. They are unlikely to be able to enforce it even if they took it to court. Your old insurance policy should be perfectly fine.

Brb

I go through the AA. I was insured with royal sun alliance when my rented house flooded. The only thing RSA refused to replace was the carpet as my tenancy agreement stated that LL had to have reputable insurance for those (if my agreement hadn't stipulated that though they would have covered it). 2 years later and my policy was £96 for the year (still through AA but different insurer). Thats for up to 30k with accidental cover.

Pott5y

Thanks for all the replies. It is just so confusing and to me it seems such a rip off!!!

Apparently, Landlords cover (so I have been informed) does not cover for accidental damage by the tenant to things like carpets, washing machines or fridges etc. So yes they are insisting that I show them proof of this cover before they will hand me over the keys.

I have seen the OFT guidelines on this and it does not clarify the situation in this case (ie Tenants covering Landlords contents for accidental damage cover). The letting agents are not trying to sell me the insurance they are just insisting I get covered by someone.

In my opinion this is what the deposit was for, but I now think that as deposits have to be placed under a deposit protection scheme it is now not so easy for the landlords to just withold deposits for damage etc so now they are looking for insurance protection from the tenant.

MissMoneypenny

Don't forget to take the optional extra of Legal Liabilty on your contents insurance. And make sure that it does not exclude legal action against a landlord or defending a claim against a landlord.

theartfullodger

Pott5y wrote: »

I am about to move into a new rented unfurnished property and the letting company insists I need to have a contents insurance policy which includes for £2500 of accidental damage cover to the landlords fixtures, fittings and furnishings ie. carpets and fridge freezer, washing machine etc

Letting agency are a bunch of cowboys: It is up to the landlord to insure landlord's property, (if he wants to..). You, as indicated above re. OFT, do not have to insure his property nor do you have to have contents insurance for yours..

It might be sensible to have your own contents insurance for your own property. It is of course possible for you, by your actions, to damage landlord's contents (eg set fire to a chair - of course you wouldn't, I'm using it as an example). Then Landlord is at liberty to take action to recover his losses from you.

If I were in your shoes I'd ask, politely & calmly, by letter or email (keep copy) for a copy of the landlord's buildings & contents insurance. This matters: If LL has, eg, "normal" householders insurance & there is a fire (his fault), you 'orribly burned, his "normal" insurance won't pay out..

Was at a Landlord forum this am in leafy Berkshire. In the b*gs at a break one landlord enquired of another (So, do you have landlord's insurance??) [i.e. one of them didn't]...

Amazing the stupidity of some people...

Cheers!

Artful