Most of us are aware of the fact that landlords insure their buildings which normally covers their appliances, doors, floors, light fittings and walls. But being a tenant you must know that your landlord’s insurance policy doesn’t cover your personal belongings.
If any harm or loss is caused to your landlord’s property in your presence, you are liable for it and you can be held financially responsible for that. There are only a few rules and regulations for the landlords to compensate tenants for any damage or loss caused to their personal belongings. In a nutshell, taking care of your personal belongings and your landlord’s property is only your responsibility.
What is Tenants Content Insurance?
Tenants Content Insurance is the insurance that focuses on the tenants and covers their personal belongings when they are renting. It covers your belongings if they get stolen or damaged in floods or fire. It is more of a protection that can prove to be invaluable when you require replacing essential items in your home.
What Valuables are covered under it?
Different insurers have different terms and conditions for their tenant’s insurance policy. Commonly, insurers offer cover for the following things:
- Bike
- Books and DVDs
- Furniture
- Jewellery
- Soft furnishings
- Sports equipment
- TVs, laptops and other electronics
How much Cover is required?
Tenants Content Insurance is required when you are renting so that you don’t have to face any kind of hassle when your belongings get damaged or stolen. It is not always easy to determine the cost of replacing your home contents. You can still follow the following steps to do proximate calculations:
- Some insurers offer online calculators for you to do the calculations. However, you can make a list of all your belongings, one by one.
- Make sure that your list is up to date. You must remember to contact your insurer whenever you buy an expensive item like television, laptop, etc. that would affect your cover.
- You can also decide if you want to add personal possessions cover in your policy or not that protect items away from home like your bike, mobile phone, laptop, etc.
- You will be required to mention the names and details of all your valuable items while taking the policy. There is going to be a limit on any claim.
Shared House Contents Insurance for Renters
It is beneficial for a group of friends or students who live together and share the same house on rent. In such a case, you require a very small amount of insurance cover because you don’t want to insure everyone’s belongings.
If you have shared house contents insurance, you and your partner can cover your own items each; condition being that you can lock the door of your room or area. If you can’t lock it, you need an additional ‘walk-in theft’ cover that is not offered by most of the insurers. This insurance policy will only cover the items that get damaged or stolen from your room. It won’t cover them if they are elsewhere in the house or take things out with you.
What to keep in mind while getting Tenants Content Insurance?
You might be thinking of buying the basic contents insurance for tenants because it is cheap. But you must be well-versed with the fact that it will only cover basic things. But a policy that offers wider cover will allow you to add extra items too.
Any premium insurance will also cover your expensive items like bicycles, jewellery, laptops, tablets or phones. These items are separately mentioned in your insurance policy so that they are protected for their current value. You will also be allowed to add ‘outside the home’ to protect these items when you are away from home.
How to get the Cheapest Tenants Content Insurance?
The best way to get the cheapest contents insurance is to get the quotes from different insurers and choose the most suitable out of them. While you do the comparison, make sure you compare like with like only. One insurance policy might be cheaper than the other but might not offer the same cover limits or types of protection as the later.
While you are planning to get the tenants content insurance, you must know everything about it. All the insurance companies mention everything about their policy in their agreement. Give it a proper read and choose only if it suits your requirements.