Insurance is a must for tenants
May 2004
Most
home owners understand how important home and contents
insurance is in protecting their property, but many
people who rent never arrange insurance and therefore
leave themselves open to potential losses of hundreds or
even thousands of dollars.
While the owner of a rental property will generally
insure their property against accidents or damage, the
owner is generally not responsible for any loss or
damage that is caused to tenants' belongings where
tenants have been negligent.
For example, if a rental property has adequate window
and door locks but the tenants belongings are stolen
because they didn’t activate the locks, the tenant is
responsible for that loss.
In this case, if the tenant had contents insurance
they would be able to claim the loss against that
insurance.
Some people have an “it won’t happen to me” attitude
which can be very dangerous. Others just never get
around to arranging insurance and take their chances
that nothing will happen.
According to insurance firms burglary, fire and
water damage are the main causes of losses incurred by
tenants. Yet a simple insurance package will cover
tenants for loss as a result of these incidents.
Contents insurance, which is the most common type of
insurance for tenants, is available from all major
insurance companies and will generally cost around $300
a year or a dollar a day…not much to pay for peace of
mind!
Most insurance companies are able to give you a quote
over the phone and many also provide a facility for you
to obtain your own quote on the internet.
The bottom line is that tenants should carry
insurance. That way, a tenant does suffer any losses
they won’t have to start again from scratch to replace
their belongings.
