As a renter, do we need property cover?

King_Mustard

We are looking to rent a property from a landlord for 6 months.

We will get contents insurance for our things but, as an example, what happens if we flood the house or something similar?

Would the landlords house insurance cover everything or could/should we get our own property insurance?

glosoli

You should have contents insurance, the buildings insurance is a liability for the person who owns the building.

theartfullodger

Contents cover a good idea, but you don't HAVE to have it.

Many landlords have no/invalid/substandard insurance cover. Ask to see copy of policy - any decent landlord should comply, although I've never been asked in 16+ years of renting. Weird!

G_M

If the propert is floodded or burns down, the landlord is the one suffering the loss. So if he's wise he'll have buildings insurance. Not your problem.

King_Mustard

G_M wrote: »

If the propert is floodded or burns down, the landlord is the one suffering the loss. So if he's wise he'll have buildings insurance. Not your problem.

But as tenants that caused the flooding, couldn't the landlord put us in legal trouble? Was thinking insurance would help us, in case of that. Just need clarification.

Car1980

You could potentially have to pay the excess, which would be deducted from your deposit. But that's it. You'd have to pay the deposit even if it was your house and your insurance anyway

G_M

If you flood the property accidentally, you would only be liable if you'd been negligent.

Negligence has specific legal definitions - making a mistake once (eg leaving the bath running) is not negligence (in law, though it might be in common usage).

Making a mistake after being warned (eg LL visisted, saw the bath running, told you to turn it off, but you still didn't [sorry, poor example but you get the idea] ) that would be negligence.

If you flood the property deliberately, yes you could be in trouble. Not just from the LL, but also the police (criminal damage), though in both cases there would have to be proof it was deliberate. If you tthink this might happen, take out insurance. Though I suspect you'd find your insurance was invalid because of your deliberate act!

Plus most decent landlords building insurance policies cover 'malicious damage by tenants' so he'd claim on that.

colesy

G_M wrote: »

Negligence has specific legal definitions - making a mistake once (eg leaving the bath running) is not negligence (in law, though it might be in common usage).

That's not correct at all. One off mistakes can be negligent (I work in liability claims). However, you will find that contents insurance normally comes with public liability cover that would protect you in such circumstances, but it's worth checking.