The Lemon Fool

Last year I helped an elderly neighbour sort out her contents insurance (she rents a cottage).

A year on and the renewal invitation and the usual reminders from Confused.com etc. are starting to arrive and it occurred to me - should she have cover for a bit more than damage/theft for her possessions? For example, what would she do if the house was damaged by fire/flood etc. resulting in her having to move out whilst repairs were made? She has no relatives so would have to either rent somewhere short term or move into an hotel.

Maybe me just being the eternal pessimist, but you never know. Do such policies exist or am I over thinking things?

Laughton wrote:Last year I helped an elderly neighbour sort out her contents insurance (she rents a cottage).

A year on and the renewal invitation and the usual reminders from Confused.com etc. are starting to arrive and it occurred to me - should she have cover for a bit more than damage/theft for her possessions? For example, what would she do if the house was damaged by fire/flood etc. resulting in her having to move out whilst repairs were made? She has no relatives so would have to either rent somewhere short term or move into an hotel.

Maybe me just being the eternal pessimist, but you never know. Do such policies exist or am I over thinking things?

Have you read the policy wording? It would be standard cover for water damage from almost any source to be covered. Contents insurance almost always covers, fire, explosion, aircraft damage and all sorts of other more or less unlikely events in a standard house contents policy, not excluding damage to sanitary ware! If you are going to act as a sort of insurance broker for her the first thing is to know what is currently covered. Not only do such policies exist, they are the standard. She rents the cottage,therefore she should not worry about damage to the building and anyway if she is just a tenant she normally will have no insurance interest in the building.

Dod

Well maybe not sanitary ware as she is the tenant but a standard contents policy is quite wide ranging in what it covers, far more than theft or damage.

Dod

The landlord's insurance might cover her for such an eventuality. The policy would cover a rental amount (eg "£24k" total , spread over perhaps 24months). Speak to the landlord , maybe ask for a copy of the insurance policy explaining the concern?

( we rent a property out...here's a section from our insurance policy)

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Ah yes. I'll have a word with the landlord.

It was the cost of alternative accommodation I was concerned about, not worried about the building itself or "fixtures and fittings". As Dod101 says, they are a problem for the landlord.

Laughton wrote:Ah yes. I'll have a word with the landlord.

It was the cost of alternative accommodation I was concerned about, not worried about the building itself or "fixtures and fittings". As Dod101 says, they are a problem for the landlord.

Yes, the standard approach here is to claim against the landlord's insurance. That should cover things like the cost of alternative housing and relocation costs. This happens a lot with cases of fire damage.

I suspect that having a solicitor make a claim might lead to a better outcome.

You need to differentiate between contents insurance, which is the tenants responsibility to provide and Buildings insurance which is the landlords responsibility to provide.

Wow! Renewal invitation from Hastings Direct just received.

Last year's premium £94.45. This year's premium £139.84. An increase of 48%

That's what I call inflation!

Tangential to the original question, one thing to be aware of is Tenants Liability. Covers you against things like if you get held liable (rightly or wrongly) for loss or damage to landlord's property. I believe it's common but not universal in household policies that cover contents but not buildings.

Laughton wrote:Wow! Renewal invitation from Hastings Direct just received.

Last year's premium £94.45. This year's premium £139.84. An increase of 48%

That's what I call inflation!

The landlord's insurance might be 3x that! We were quoted £400+ for buildings insurance on a 1 bed flat. We couldn’t get it cheaper.

The landlord's property is worth a LOT more than 3 x the value of the contents.

OK - I appreciate that it's difficult to put a two bedromed property into a burglar's swag bag.

Just to polish off this thread - have taken a new policy with Admiral as they were closer to last year's premium with Hastings Direct.

And it includes "Occupier's Liability", "Tenant's Liability" and "Alternative Accommodation" so we're both happy that all her potential needs are covered.