Tenant insurance is basically a contents insurance policy designed to insure your possessions only. The landlord you rent your home off is responsible for insuring the buildings & making sure they are properly maintained. This said making sure your deposit is protected should you accidentally damage the property you live in is essential.
Many tenant insurance products have this cover as standard or it can be added at a small extra cost. In the Uk 25% of home do not have adiquate contents insurance. This would leave these people liable for the full replacement of any of their possessions that are lost, stolen or damaged.
Insurance is the transfer of risk. You becoming the ‘insured’ party once risk is assumed by an ‘insurer’, by means of a contract, called an insurance ‘policy’. Tenants insurance is thus when the risk of loss for contents is transferred to the insurance broker in exchange for a premium.
Tenant insurance covers most of your personal belongings whilst in your home or outbuildings. Personal belongings are anything that is not classified as a permanent fixture in the home. Examples include: Electrical goods, soft furnishings, domestic appliances, some valuables & cash up to a limit. Most domestic insurance cover has an upper limit of ~£1,000 depending on the providers’ terms & conditions. Additional cover can generally be added to cover high value items at a small extra cost & some premium grade policies include this as standard.
Valuing your contents accurately is essential to make sure you are properly insured & you don’t pay too much for your premium. In order to make sure you know what possessions you own & to get an estimate of how much they are worth, it is recommended to take the following steps:
– Carrying out room by room itinerary listings of makes + models of covered items. It is amazing how many things we forget we own.
– CD's & DVD's make a comprehensive title list.
– Take photographs of specialist items e.g. jewellery.
Get specialist appraisals for items of high value i.e. collectables, antiquities etc. Take out additional/extra cover where necessary.