Q. I’m new to the private rental sector and have just secured my first home to rent which I move into in the next couple of days. A few colleagues have recommended that I consider taking out contents insurance? Is this really necessary? Surely this is something the Landlord should already have in place so why would I need to do this too?
A. I hear you and you are certainly not alone in your thinking on this subject. Not feeling the need for contents insurance is a misconception by the majority of tenants in the private rental sector, but unfortunately this couldn’t be further from the truth. Figures show that only 39% of tenants actually have contents insurance this is in stark contrast to homeowners where 89% of mortgage owners and 93% of people who wholly own their own home have a policy in place. When questioned in a recent survey, tenants said they thought it was nice to have but not essential, I would beg to differ. Even if the property is fully equipped and furnished by the Landlord, most tenants have expensive items like for instance, camera’s, Laptops, mobile phones, TV’s, Printers to name just a few of the usual things most of us would possess. The cost of which could easily add up to thousands of pounds, if god forbid the place burnt down. Policies can also cover accidental damage within the property too, most tenants fail to appreciate that if they were to crack a washbasin or cause a flood by leaving a bath running for instance or lose a set of expensive security keys and fobs they are liable for the cost of repair or replacement. There are several specialist insurance policies available that would include tenant’s liability in their cover. So don’t be caught out, for the sake of a few pounds a month I would strongly recommend that you look into arranging some cover, you could end up saving yourself a small fortune if the unthinkable were to happen.