Tenants liability insurance

Guest2

Guest2

Guest2

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We are coming around to renewing our contract in rented accomodation and now our agents are asking we pay for Tenants liability insurance

'Please also note that it is mandatory for you to have a minimum level of insurance, e.g. tenants liability insurance. If you already have this please can you provide us with the details of whom you are insured with, if you do not have insurance please contact the office asap and we can arrange this for you.
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This policy will protect you specifically against any damage done to the landlords possessions. So, in the event that something were damaged the insurer would cover it, rather than there being a deduction to your deposit. The deposit is in place to not only protect against damage to the property but also for other things, eg. Potential end of tenancy clean. So having this cover in conjunction with a deposit provides far better protection for you, and also the landlord.

With the company we use, LetAlliance, this would cost £5.19 per month. You are free to choose whichever provider you would like, but you must provide evidence of cover to us.

LetAlliance can also factor tenants liability into a broader tenants contents insurance product as well if you are looking to get your personal items covered.
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In our contract which we signed last year it states the following

The landlord of the propertyherby agrees to enter into a tenancy agreement with the tenant/s name herein upon the conditon that the tenant/s obtain insurance that the landlord or his agent deem to be sufficient to protect the landlord fixtures and fittings against accidental damage caused by the tenant/s and their visitors to a minimum level of £2500. The ingoing inventory will be used as a mechanist in which to compare and assess any damage at the end of the tenancy. The tenant agrees and accepts that the insurance held by the Landlord does not cover the tenant's belongings, and tenants are responsible for taking out contents insurance to protect their own contents and valuables.
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LetAllienace is has £2,500 cover - http://www.letalliance.co.uk/tenants/tenants-liability-insurance/

Should we just go with this and why has it come about just now? I have rented for over 10 years and never even heard of Tenants liability insurance. I have always paid into a TDS type deposit which is secured and used for any breakages, cleaning when moving out etc.
 
Why are you renewing your contract, presumably paying extortionate letting agent fees, instead of moving to a periodic tenancy rolling contract (where you have to give one month's notice to leave and the landlord must give you two month's notice)?

We have been on a periodic tenancy now for almost 10 years.
 
Whats a periodic tenancy? We have lived in this apartment for almost 2 years. The 10 years plus i stated was multiple houses (6 or 7) i have lived over the years where I have not had to pay this tenants liability insurance
 
Where you go onto a rolling month to month, no fees to pay.
That's if the landlord agrees to let you which if you have been a good tenant the landlord won't want to lose you as a tenant.

I would speak to the landlord and cut the agents out.
 
we have been in ours for 4 yrs .. no deposit .. but any minor faults I do .. or get done ..
there are really good landlords out there .. but why would you need insurance ??is it a furnished flat ?
if not there just passing there building insurance over to you .. because that would cover everything else ..
 
Just sounds like the latest letting agent scam they will bo on commission for selling the policy to you decline and say you feel no need for this insurance as you feel the deposit is adequate protection for all parties. If they kick off threaten to leave they will drop it eventually as they won't want the hassle.
 
Landlords need to insure the building, as a tenants you do not have to insure the contents (your possessions and things provided by landlord). If when you leave, landlord item are damaged beyond reasonable wear and tear, that comes out of your deposit (which must be held in a TDS, otherwise the landloard can be fined ~3x deposit value in your favour).

Most tenancies automatically become periodic once the initial contract period is over, there does not need to be verbal or written communication for this to happen.
 
wedrum said:
Where you go onto a rolling month to month, no fees to pay.
That's if the landlord agrees to let you which if you have been a good tenant the landlord won't want to lose you as a tenant.

I would speak to the landlord and cut the agents out.
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The landlord uses an agent because they live out the country. All repairs are logged on the agency website and are sorted pretty quickly. e.g. The boiler was recently reapired and was sorted in a couple of days.


UTmaniac said:
Landlords need to insure the building, as a tenants you do not have to insure the contents (your possessions and things provided by landlord). If when you leave, landlord item are damaged beyond reasonable wear and tear, that comes out of your deposit (which must be held in a TDS, otherwise the landloard can be fined ~3x deposit value in your favour).

Most tenancies automatically become periodic once the initial contract period is over, there does not need to be verbal or written communication for this to happen.
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See my first post. In our contract it states '...upon the conditon that the tenant/s obtain insurance that the landlord or his agent deem to be sufficient to protect the landlord fixtures and fittings against accidental damage caused by the tenant/s and their visitors to a minimum level of £2500...' so yes, it appears we do.

Also the reply from the agency - 'This policy will protect you specifically against any damage done to the landlords possessions. So, in the event that something were damaged the insurer would cover it, rather than there being a deduction to your deposit. The deposit is in place to not only protect against damage to the property but also for other things, eg. Potential end of tenancy clean.'
 
Has the landlord got landlord's insurance? He should have, and it should cover those items.
£5 a month for insurance up to 2500 on fittings sounds an awful offer, but doubt any policy would be much cheaper.

For comparison, my landlord insurance on my rental property give 5K a year cover, plus builds cover, with morethan, and the various cashback amounts and is £130 a year, of which cashback will bring it down to £80. This rebuilds the entire house and covers the fittings.
Have you actual household insurance of your own, 'contents' insurance, if so, it may cover this, and if you go for buildings plus cover, even if you don't own the premises, it might work out cheaper than a £5 a month policy added to what you already pay.
 
I would just sign up for independent insurance policy show them, then cancel within the cooling off period. There 'arranged' insurance will be rip off and probably not worth the paper it is written on.
 
Nelson Santos said:
I would just sign up for independent insurance policy show them, then cancel within the cooling off period. There 'arranged' insurance will be rip off and probably not worth the paper it is written on.
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Have you thought this through? i.e What happens if there is a fire and our apartment is gutted. The building is covered by the landlord insurance but the landlords fixtures and furnishings (I presume things like Sofas, chairs, Microwave, cooker, dishwasher...) are all destroyed - who pays for them to be replaced if we are supposed to have this tenants liability insurance?
 
Insurance is a con, but blimmin' heck you seem to need insurance for everything these days and they wrap it up in a name that also makes you want it just in case. Is it tenants contents insurance or liability? what liabilities does it cover?
Definitely don't let the agent arrange it for you, but I suspect you don't really need this anyway.
The landlord should have everything covered that they own, even if fully furnished, so the rest as far as I know is optional, ie, do you want to insure your own belongings? Personally I haven't bothered. The deposit is there to cover any accidents you have too don't forget.
As with all insurances, only take out what you really need!
This should not be mandatory.
To poster above, the landlord may already have building and contents cover if it's fully furnished
 
DarrenM343 said:
Insurance is a con, but blimmin' heck you seem to need insurance for everything these days and they wrap it up in a name that also makes you want it just in case. Is it tenants contents insurance or liability? what liabilities does it cover?
Definitely don't let the agent arrange it for you, but I suspect you don't really need this anyway.
The landlord should have everything covered that they own, even if fully furnished, so the rest as far as I know is optional, ie, do you want to insure your own belongings? Personally I haven't bothered. The deposit is there to cover any accidents you have too don't forget.
As with all insurances, only take out what you really need!
This should not be mandatory.
To poster above, the landlord may already have building and contents cover if it's fully furnished
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Does no-one read the first post on here? I am the initial poster. Yes, the landlord has landlord insurance, this apparently does not cover the landlords fixtures and fittings. Read the first post
 
Is that price competitive with what's available if you arrange it yourself? Come to think of it, i'm not entirely sure if we have this tenants liability insurance, we have our own contents insurance. Frankly most of the stuff in our flat is old, apart from the bed, so if it did go up in flames and we had to personally reimburse, i would expect the landlord to pay the majority share - can't expect a new for old replacement.

On another topic that wedrum points out, is there any reason you're renewing your contract? Unless your landlord has bumped the rent price up, there's absolutely no reason for you to renew the contract. Ours has recently moved over to a rolling contract, and there's absolutely no notifications of such.
 
Guest2 said:
Does no-one read the first post on here? I am the initial poster. Yes, the landlord has landlord insurance, this apparently does not cover the landlords fixtures and fittings. Read the first post
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Sorry mate, was skipping through as busy. However my comment came as a general comment,both as someone who has rented properties for business (working away from home), but also while letting out properties as a landlord. I've never had to take any insurance out as a tenant as I chose not to cover my belongings. As a landlord, I also just have buildings insurance, accepting if damage occurs to any of my items in the rental either the tenant will pay up to fix it (part of the reason for the deposit), or I'll just cover it myself. As a landlord you do have the option of covering for damage caused by tenants to contents. Some agents may try to get both sides to cover the same items with insurance, especially if they arrange it for you! (making a commission).


As I stated, insurance is all a rip off and as such I only take out what I feel I really need, ie, buildings insurance and car insurance. The average person does not claim what they have paid out in commission, hence companies make profit from insurance policies.
At the end of the day it's up to you. You can either live off of fear and take insurance out for everything and be worse off, or take out only necessary. This insurance should not be mandatory and is not required by law.
I wouldnt be surprised if the agent is spinning the same story the landlord, potentially everything except building insurance covered twice :D
 
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Semple said:
On another topic that wedrum points out, is there any reason you're renewing your contract? Unless your landlord has bumped the rent price up, there's absolutely no reason for you to renew the contract. Ours has recently moved over to a rolling contract, and there's absolutely no notifications of such.
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On a one month rolling contract you can be kicked out with 2 months notice cos landlord is bored of renting.. With a 12 month contract it's very hard to kick you out before 12 months is up.. Best for you (assuming you don't want to move) to be on a 6 or 12 month contract best for landlord if you are on a rolling contract (if they ever want you out asap)
 
Semple said:
Is that price competitive with what's available if you arrange it yourself? Come to think of it, i'm not entirely sure if we have this tenants liability insurance, we have our own contents insurance. Frankly most of the stuff in our flat is old, apart from the bed, so if it did go up in flames and we had to personally reimburse, i would expect the landlord to pay the majority share - can't expect a new for old replacement.
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It's the cheapest insurance there is that I can find online (£2500 cover)
We don't have our own contents insurance but thats only because all the stuff in here isnt wortha great deal. Likewise I expect the more expensive stuff is the landlords 'fixtures and fittings' if they are things like the dishwasher, cooker and washing machine

Semple said:
On another topic that wedrum points out, is there any reason you're renewing your contract? Unless your landlord has bumped the rent price up, there's absolutely no reason for you to renew the contract. Ours has recently moved over to a rolling contract, and there's absolutely no notifications of such.
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We want to stay here another year. The landlord has bumbed the price up but by only £10 a month. We pay a renewal fee of £90 for another 12 months with the agency and do not deal with the landlord (they are not even in the country I don't think)


DarrenM343 said:
Sorry mate, was skipping through as busy. However my comment came as a general comment,both as someone who has rented properties for business (working away from home), but also while letting out properties as a landlord. I've never had to take any insurance out as a tenant as I chose not to cover my belongings. As a landlord, I also just have buildings insurance, accepting if damage occurs to any of my items in the rental either the tenant will pay up to fix it (part of the reason for the deposit), or I'll just cover it myself. As a landlord you do have the option of covering for damage caused by tenants to contents. Some agents may try to get both sides to cover the same items with insurance, especially if they arrange it for you! (making a commission).


As I stated, insurance is all a rip off and as such I only take out what I feel I really need, ie, buildings insurance and car insurance. The average person does not claim what they have paid out in commission, hence companies make profit from insurance policies.
At the end of the day it's up to you. You can either live off of fear and take insurance out for everything and be worse off, or take out only necessary. This insurance should not be mandatory and is not required by law.
I wouldnt be surprised if the agent is spinning the same story the landlord, potentially everything except building insurance covered twice :D
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No problem. Again, its not for your own belongings. Doesnt the landlord building insurance cover damaged to the building but not 'fixtures and fittings' as I quoted from our contract that we signed last year? Yes, I highly expect they are just trying to make commission by selling us the insurance (through LetAlliance) Is there any way around not getting the insurance through them / LetAlliance? It does seem to be the cheapest but its strange they only brought it up now as the government are apparently trying to sting rental agencies with all sorts of things that will cost them money such as background checks on tenants.

I'm almost certain that if we could contact the landlord(s) they wouldnt give a toss and would probably just say "no, we have your deposit to cover our fixtures, fittings and damages to the propertly"
 
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