Tenant Contents Insurance

Tenant contents insurance, often called renters’ contents insurance is an optional insurance policy that covers a tenant’s personal belongings in a rented home, such as furniture, clothes, electronics and other possessions. It normally protects against risks like fire, theft, flood, escape of water and some types of accidental damage, up to the policy limits.

This insurance is separate from the landlord’s buildings insurance or any policy the landlord takes out for their own fixtures and fittings. A landlord’s insurance almost never covers the tenant’s belongings. If there were a fire or burglary, the landlord might be able to claim for the structure and their items, but the tenant would usually have to rely on their own contents policy or bear the loss themselves.

Tenant contents insurance is not a legal requirement under housing law or the Renters’ Rights reforms, and landlords cannot normally insist that a tenant buys a specific product from a particular insurer as a condition of renting. However, tenants may find it good risk management, especially if they have valuable items or live in a shared property. Policies vary, so renters should check excesses, exclusions, and whether cover applies away from the home or to accidental damage they cause to the landlord’s fixtures.