When you’re renting a property, insurance isn’t something you typically think about. The landlord typically takes care of the building’s insurance, but what about the contents? It’s your job to ensure that the contents of the home are insured if the property came as unfurnished.
While contents insurance isn’t a legal necessity, it’s definitely worth the investment. Here, you’ll discover some of the main benefits of investing in contents insurance.
What is content insurance?
Contents insurance is designed to protect your belongings in case they become damaged or lost. The price of replacing or fixing your possessions can prove challenging if the worst were to happen. With the right level of contents insurance however, you won’t need to worry about finding the money to replace them.
You can choose to cover the cost of your entire contents, or simply insure your most expensive belongings. Common things people insure with this type of insurance include a TV, mirror, laptop and furniture.
What benefits does it deliver?
It may seem like an unnecessary expense, but contents insurance can deliver a lot of benefits. Some of the main ones include:
- Protection against theft
- May protect possessions outside the home
- Protection against extreme weather
- Cover against accidental damage
If your house is broken into and your possessions get stolen, contents insurance will help you replace the things you’ve lost. Similarly, if your home is hit by extreme weather such as hail storms and you have hail damage insurance by your side then it will help you recover all your insurance claims for the damage done.
Some types of cover also protect your possessions outside of the home. So, if you’ve included your laptop in the policy for example, if it breaks or gets stolen outside of the home, you may still be covered.
Many policies will also cover accidental damage. So, if you accidentally break your TV for example, if it’s included in the policy you may be covered to have it repaired or replaced.
While contents insurance is beneficial for everyone, it’s especially useful to those who rent a property. Some tenant’s contents policies include tenancy liability. This means, if you accidentally damage your landlord’s property, you’ll receive the money needed to repair the damage.
Things to consider
So, now you know more about the benefits of contents insurance, it’s time to look at the factors you’ll need to think about when choosing a policy.
Not all policies are made equal. This means it’s really important to read the terms and conditions before signing up. It’s also useful to research what types of cover should be included in a good policy.
Think about how much cover the insurer provides and what the monthly rates will be. Check to see whether you need to pay extra to protect against fire and theft. If you have any outbuildings, you’ll also want to check the contents within them can be included in the policy.
As you can see, contents insurance can be really beneficial. The above are just some the benefits and things to consider before taking out a policy.
