As a tenant, the landlord’s building or property insurance extends only to the physical elements of your property. For example, the home’s fixtures and fittings. If something happened to the property you are renting, it is the landlord’s responsibility to fix the issue.

However, the landlord’s responsibility does not extend to your physical belongings, such as whitegoods, televisions, and other furniture items.

Unfortunately, many tenants fail to take out a contents insurance policy under the misinformed belief that their contents will be covered by their landlord’s insurance. Many tenants incorrectly assume that in the event of a burglary, fire or flood, their contents will be covered. Should anything occur, it’s not the landlord’s responsibility to compensate their tenant for damage that’s unfortunately occurred.

Before you move into a rental property, it is worth taking stock of all your possessions. Do a rough calculation of everything you own - jewellery, clothing, furniture, whitegoods, electronic goods  - you will be surprised at how quickly the total sum of your contents adds up to a significant dollar amount. Would you be able to afford the bill to replace all of it, if something happened and you didn’t have contents insurance?

As a tenant, the onus is on you to do your own research and investigate contents insurance policies that will protect your belongings in the unforeseen event damage occurs. Fortunately, there are several tenant designed content insurance policy options that are available on the market. Many of these are considerably cheaper than polices that cover contents and building insurance in the one policy. You will be paying a much smaller premium.

While a Raine & Horne Property Manager cannot provide financial advice, when preparing your lease agreement, they will highly recommend tenants do their research and find a suitable contents insurance policy. You take out health and car insurance to protect yourself, so why wouldn’t you protect your valuable possessions?

If you have any questions about why you might need contents insurance for your rental home, contact your Raine & Horne Property Manager for advice.