Landlords insurance normally comes as mainly cover for the buildings, the contents is just for the bare minimum, usually to include, carpets, curtains, table, chairs & bed etc. The premiums can be higher for a landlords policy as the risk is deemed to be higher as it perceived that the tenant will not take as much care of the property or basic contents as you as the home owner would. The tenant is liable to insure their own contents. Also something else to look out for is that normally AD cover is excluded under the lettings policy so you may well find that the contents is just for the main insured perils, fire, flood, storm etc etc.

Why isn't the landlord insuring his own items through his landlord property owners insurance policy? Okay, so he might not want a claim under his own policy and therefore requesting that you indemnify him. However, surely the deposit you have paid will be held until satisfactory inspection. This is a security deposit that you lose if you leave the property in an unfit state or cause damages.

If it is just for the carpets and presuming he hasn't left any expensive persian rugs... why the hell does he want you to cover non-existant contents in an unfurnished property.

You have no insurable interest in the contents and from an Underwriting point of view you have no 'incentive' in the upkeeping of the property as they are not your own !

The main point here is that you will have paid a deposit presumably? If they want you to take out an insurance policy, request the deposit back as the surety is elsewhere.

Hi

I personally would not bother to take out cover if it's just for carpets and curtains. I suppose if the carpets were all finest axmister, wilton etc they could be worth thousands but how likely are you to damage them. There is bound to be an excess on any policy. If you accidentally spilled anything on a carpet, you could get them professionally cleaned if necessary. Is cleaning expensive ?. Most fluids/stains can be removed using standard cleaning products. The house next door to me is let and the owner gets all the carpets cleaned anyway, when there is a break in the letting.

The Halifax Contents policy which I have appears to cover all Contents you own or have legal reponsibility for. Does not appear to exclude landlords Contents, but I have not read from front to back.http://www.halifax.co.uk/insurance/homeandcontents.asp?source=NETGOOGLHFXHHIBEXM09

I'm afraid it is not too specific-the wording is "accidental damage to landlords contents", which as the house is rented unfurnished, I take to mean things like carpets etc. Postcode area is not a city centre but a small town, and taking the cover to £20,000 means I would be paying more than my existing buildings AND contents cover. The problem is finding a policy that will cover landlord's contents too, as this is not in the search criteria, and having to fill out every application to get to the terms and conditons part is aggravating.

Hi

In order to arrange the necessary cover you need to have a list of the items that you are expected to arrange Insurance for and the current replacement values. The landlord cannot expect you to arrange cover without these details. My experience of dealing with normal insurance is that you cannot normally insure items you don't own.. The landlord will normally arrange cover for their own possessions e.g white goods, free standing storage cupboards etc and of course the landlord will also insure the Building including its attached fittings and fixtures.

There is however on most Contents Insurances you take out for your own possessions, a tennants liability cover for damage that may occur to the building. The following is a specimen and fairly standard. Check your own Contents Insurance policy. It really only covers basic perils and not accidental damage. Your shorthold tenancy agreement should state what responsibilty you have to put right any damage you cause.

3 Tenants liability
We will pay all amounts you become legally liable to pay, as a tenant
of your home, for damage caused to the buildings during the period of
insurance shown in the schedule, by any cause covered by paragraphs
A, B1, B2 and B3 of section 1 of this policy.
For any claim resulting from one incident, we will not pay more than
20% of the total sum insured by this section.

If you really have to cover your landlords Contents you can phone BIBA who are akin to the yellow pages of the Insurance industry. http://www.biba.org.uk/ . Telephone 0870 950 1790.

Huckster

Are you sure £10,000 will be enough ? Even if you are just covering the furniture plus your items I doubt it is enough unless you've got very few clothes and possessions remembering that you are insuring at replacement value not second hand value. Have you checked with your landlord how much cover you need for his possessions ?

First of all the cheapest is not always the best, but I assume you take this attitude that as its not yours why should you have to pay for it !! .

I will agree £162 seems quite dear, but it does depend on your post code , if you live in a city centre it could be a fair price

By landlords items do you mean fixtures and fittings e.g. central heating, new kitchen or furnishings such as carpets, settee beds etc.

Ian

I'm looking for the cheapest contents insurance available that includes cover for the landlords items, as this is required by the tenancy agreement--best I've found so far is £162 for £10,000 cover. This seems steep to me? Can anyone help?

postie_mike