Do you need insurance if you rent?
How safe are your belongings as a tenant? Does your landlord have adequate insurance cover? And do you have to take out your own insurance cover?
What insurance do I need?
Do you need to get insurance on your home if you rent? Sure the landlord is fully responsible? Your landlord should have buildings insurance which covers the house but they probably won't have contents insurance. Read our guide to find out how these two types of home insurance differ and why they're important to you.
What is building insurance?
There's two basic types of insurance on a house, these are building insurance and contents insurance. You'll need building insurance for permanent fixtures and fittings i.e. the kitchen, bathroom basically the structure of the house. A buildings insurance policy will cover you for damage done to your home which may affect it's structure caused by (not necessarily at the same time): fire, flood, explosion, subsidence, vandalism but not a zombie apocalypse. Fortunately as a renter you will not need buildings insurance as your landlord should have this covered.
What you do need if you rent or own your own home is contents insurance. And this is something your landlord probably won't have besides building insurance.
What's content insurance?
The second type of home insurance is contents insurance which covers the things you keep in your home and if you rent these are the possessions you own, such as furniture, electrical items such as laptops and televisions and all other personal belongings. Regardless of whether you're a home owner or a renter you'll need contents insurance.
And why do I need it?
According to AA Premium index, the average home has contents worth £45,000 so contents insurance is well worth taking out. If you rent it's highly unlikely your landlord will provide contents insurance as well as buildings insurance.
