House insurance in rented accomodation

DMC

This was a chat I had with a couple friends over Christmas... I wonder can anyone shed some wattage on this matter...

They are currently living with 3 others in a rented gaff. Each has their own room, with all kinds of belongings in duplicate... eg PC's, LCD TV's and the usual electronic gadgetry..

Now, they are keen to get house insurance for their stuff, but, ringing insurance brokers and companies, it seems they would have to insure the whole house, and its contents. The other people in the house do not want to pay, as they don't have as many belongings.

Do any insurance companies out there have a policy for those in rented accomodation who want it insure what is theirs, like just the contents of their room etc?

RainyDay

I don't believe any insurance company will insure contents in shared properties like this. Too many people coming in & out. Can each tenant vouch for the bona fides of every guest brought into the house by every other tenant? If not, don't expect an insurance company to bear the risk of theft by these guests.

BuffyBot

I vaguely recollect one company offering this product a couple of years back..damned if I can recall who.

daiixi

I went through this last year. I ended up having to say that I was living with a good friend (she is now at least) and insured both of our belongings. The silly thing is that the minimum I could insure our stuff for was €20,000. I'd be lucky to have half that much but I'm a backpacker and can't afford to replace everything if I had too.
My flatmate doesn't actually want insurance for her stuff and didn't pay for it, so if anything happens to the flat I won't be claiming for her stuff (only my name is on the policy) unless she coughs up.
According to the insurance agencies and brokers, there isn't enough demand for insurance for shared accomodation in this country and most of the people (Irish) who I work with and live in share accomodation had never even thought of having insurance. In the UK a company called Endsleigh have the perfect product, but they won't insure here. Good luck to your friend.
oh yea, I'm insured with Allianz!

BrianD

There is a company in Ranelagh who will do it. I had a smilar difficulty in getting insurance a few years ago. Most brokers refused to quote so I wrote to the ombudsman. She replied that she could only deal with cases where insurance was in place and where I couldn't get a quote. This broker in Ranelagh was able to give contents only insurance. I'll dig out the name,

RainyDay

daiixi wrote:

I went through this last year. I ended up having to say that I was living with a good friend (she is now at least) and insured both of our belongings. The silly thing is that the minimum I could insure our stuff for was €20,000. I'd be lucky to have half that much but I'm a backpacker and can't afford to replace everything if I had too.
My flatmate doesn't actually want insurance for her stuff and didn't pay for it, so if anything happens to the flat I won't be claiming for her stuff (only my name is on the policy) unless she coughs up.

Can you explain this further? There is a general principle of 'insurable interest' for all insurance policies which normally insists that you can only insure something which you own, i.e. you can't insure my house & I can't insure yours. I'd have expected that this would have applied in your case and the insurance company would not/should not allow you to insure goods which you don't own (i.e. your friends' property).

daiixi

Don't ask me to explain it because I can't. The whole insurance situation in this country is ridiculous. It's just like I can't easily recycle plastic bottles or tins - ridiculous!!! (dont get me started)

I even found that a lot of insurance companies don't insure the contents of flats, only houses. How f*cked up is that!?!?!?!?!

MrPudding

I kind of had this problem. I am in rented accomodation. The house is for my GF, two kids, Au Pair and myself. So With the exception of the Au Pair, one family. I still had trouble.

The only company I was able to find that would touch me was BOI. The policy is actually pretty good and the premiums are reasonable. While I was on the phone to them I asked the woman why I had so much trouble getting cover.

She told me tha it is simply risk. They insured me only because we were a family. If it had of been 4 unrelated people in the house they would not have offered me insurance. I suppose it kind of makes sense. A lot of theft is oportunistic. The simple fact that the front door is lock is a deterent. If you are in a house with a bunch of people you don't know, each of whom has a front door key the risk of theft must be greater.

MrP

MrPudding

You can, I do. You have to go to a recycling centre. Pain in the arse but hey, being environmentaly friendly is not supposed to be easy! And what does recycling have to do with insurance?

MrP

RainyDay

daiixi wrote:

Don't ask me to explain it because I can't. The whole insurance situation in this country is ridiculous.

Fair enough - I'd bet a fiver that your policy does not cover your friend's property. You might want to make this clear to her to avoid any nasty misunderstandings later.

daiixi

RainyDay wrote:

Fair enough - I'd bet a fiver that your policy does not cover your friend's property. You might want to make this clear to her to avoid any nasty misunderstandings later.

It doesn't matter whether it covers her stuff or not, she said she didn't want to pay to get insurance so she didn't pay and therefore I won't be claiming for her stuff in the event something happens.

CCOVICH

I know BoI did cover for rented accomodation up to a few years ago at least. I think you have to cover the entire contents, but can only claim for those goods that are owned by the person who's name is on the policy (I'm not sure if each tenant can put their name on the policy).

MrPudding

CCOVICH wrote:

I know BoI did cover for rented accomodation up to a few years ago at least. I think you have to cover the entire contents, but can only claim for those goods that are owned by the person who's name is on the policy (I'm not sure if each tenant can put their name on the policy).

All the tenants have to be from the same family.

MrP

DMC

Thanks folks.