Tenants Contents Insurance

HGLTsuperstar

Just put down deposit on my own place - a very tiny rented flat but it's mine and (get out the violins - long story) lts just say this is a big step in turning my life around. My question though is that the letting agent require by the time I sign the contract (next Friday, 21st Dec) for me to have a tenants contents insurance policy. Fair enough - they offer one for £80 for 12/12 but advised me to shop around first then take theirs if can't find better. Done the usual suspects and I think they are quoting me the entire house, not just my individ flat - there's 3 or 4 within it. Any ideas of who to go for - just want bare min to satisfy the agents - believe me I can't afford anymore so please no comments about it pays to pay a bit more- if I could I would but I can't.
Thanks in advance!
Holly

kunekune

Are you sure they require this? The document we received from ours was just an alert that the landlord's insurance didn't cover our own property, and the advice that it would be a good idea to have some (we have heaps of stuff, so it never crossed our minds not to). But if you have very little stuff and the excess is so high that you would never really get anything from a claim .... The agent might tell you that this is needed in case you damage the landlord's own property, but even then you should do the sums. If it's your own negligence, you're not covered anyway.

Lavendyr

They cannot require you to take contents insurance, they can only strongly recommend it. This is an unfair term and they'd have real trouble holding it up in court.

Have a look here, p49:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/unfair_contract_terms/oft356.pdf

HGLTsuperstar

Not going to go down a legal loophole etc, although I appreciate what you're saying. Anyone with any ideas of min price - for piece of mind I do want some cover for my own bits aswell as what's already in the flat.

MissMoneypenny

I paid £6 for my annual contents cover. I used Quidco for some quotes, then paid with my cashback cc.

Badger_Lady

Definitely look at Quidco - if you don't have a lot of contents to cover, you may be able to get insurance "for free" by the time cashback is paid.

Those arguing about the legality - are you sure? Because it wouldn't "just" be the tenants' contents, it would cover any floor coverings / curtains / lampshades etc provided by the landlord ???

liz545

Ensleigh offer contents only cover aimed at renters, may be worth a look. Many policies are combined building & contents, or designed for people who have a house full of white goods and need a high level of cover. But definitely see if you can get cashback through Quidco!

Catblue

Our LA says that contents insurance is recommended, but not mandatory.

As for the landlord's own curtains and carpets, etc. - why would a tenant need (or want) to insure someone else's possessions?

If landlords want to have these kind of things covered by insurance, then surely they would need to get their own contents insurance, specifically for these items?

I'd be interested in what people think about this.

Badger_Lady

Catblue wrote: »

As for the landlord's own curtains and carpets, etc. - why would a tenant need (or want) to insure someone else's possessions?

If landlords want to have these kind of things covered by insurance, then surely they would need to get their own contents insurance, specifically for these items?

I understand your point, and don't know "the answer", but contents insurance usually has a minimum cover amount of at least £15,000. Since curtains and carpets are rarely worth that much, it would be uneconomical for the landlord to have his own separate policy.

However, he can make it a condition of letting that the tenant have a policy that will automatically cover his part of the contents as well (the tenant is still liable for these items, after all, but may be unable to personally compensate the LL in the event of fire/flood etc). A security deposit isn't enough.

Similar to a mortgage company requiring you to have buildings insurance - you don't own the whole building but are liable to the lender in the event of disaster, and must therefore have the insurance in place.

King_Of_Fools

Our agent requires us to have contents insurance on our unfurnished house that explicitly has accidental coverage (to cover accidental damage to carpets, etc.) and we got ours from Direct Line (just their standard contents cover). It was cheaper and more comprehensive than that offered by our agent.

olly300

Catblue wrote: »

Our LA says that contents insurance is recommended, but not mandatory.

As for the landlord's own curtains and carpets, etc. - why would a tenant need (or want) to insure someone else's possessions?

If landlords want to have these kind of things covered by insurance, then surely they would need to get their own contents insurance, specifically for these items?.

Yes you are right that's why there is landlord's insurance. The issue has come up before.

It's an unfair contract term for an agent or landlord to make you take out contents insurance as part of your tenancy agreement. They can only advise you to take it out.

Even if you do take a policy out you will find no Insurance Company will cover contents owned by the landlord for for fire, flood or theft. So the landlord's contents must be covered by the landlord's policy.

The deposit is there to cover damage to the landlords' property caused by the tenant and if the amount of damage caused is greater than the deposit the landlord can take you to court.