Contents Insurance for Renters: What It Covers and What Landlords Do Not

If you rent, your landlord's insurance covers the building and usually their own fixtures and furniture. It does not cover your laptop, your clothes, your bike or your sofa. Contents insurance is the policy that does.

What contents insurance covers

Loss of or damage to your belongings inside the home from events named in the policy: typically theft, fire, flood, escape of water, and storm. Many policies can add accidental damage, cover for items you take out of the home, and cover for a bicycle. Tenant's liability cover, which some policies include, protects you if you accidentally damage the landlord's property.

Do you need it?

It is not a legal requirement, and some tenancy agreements do not mention it. The question is what it would cost to replace everything you own if you came home to a burst pipe or a burglary. For most renters that figure is far higher than they expect once clothes, kitchenware and electronics are added up.

How to value your contents

• Walk room by room and estimate the cost to replace each thing new, not what you paid.
• List single items worth more than the policy's single item limit. The limit is set by the insurer and stated in the policy; items above it usually need naming on the policy to be covered in full.
• Include things in storage, the shed and the car if you want them covered.
• Round up. Under-insuring can reduce a payout proportionally.

What to check before you buy

• The excess you would pay on a claim.
• Whether cover is new-for-old or indemnity (which deducts wear and tear).
• Security conditions: some policies require specific locks.
• Whether flatmates' belongings are covered, or each person needs their own policy.
• Whether cover continues if the home is unoccupied for more than a set number of days.

How Wisemium helps

Add your contents policy to Wisemium and it keeps the insurer, the premium and the renewal date on record and shows it as needing attention as the renewal comes close. When you want quotes, it hands you to an FCA authorised comparison partner. Wisemium does not compare, recommend or arrange insurance itself.