Tenants' contents insurance

[Piglet]

Hello,

Following a small fire, we have discovered that our tenants have not insured their own contents. This is a clause in their tenancy agreement.

My question is - what problems does it cause me as a landlord for them not to insure their contents (it is a furnished house, but they own computers, TVs, bikes etc.) and also can I force them to insure their contents. If they don't, is this a breach of the tenancy agreement?

Thanks.

[Mortitia]

If they don't insure their own contents then they cannot claim off yours. How did this fire start - were they responsible?

A lot of people (myself included) see contents insurance as dead money and fires are rare. I don't see how you can force tenants to insure and technically it is a breach of the agreement.

Claim on your own insurance for the furnished goods lost that are yours.

Mortitia

[Piglet]

Hi again,

So - if they don't have contents insurance and there is a fire they can't claim against my insurance (assuming I wasn't to blame)?

The fire started in a paper / cardboard recycling bin. It is likely that it was a discarded cigarette but there will be no way to prove this. It was either the fault of the tenants or a mysterious third party arsonist (seems unlikely that someone randomly snuck into the back garden in the middle of the night to start a fire but for "blame" purposes there is no 100% certainty).

The damage was mostly to the outside - a patio door, guttering, rendering - so there will be no contents insurance to claim on. It's our second fire in three years (the first was a different property) so Im dreading telling the insurance company!

I'm considering asking them to pay the policy excess - £250.

Thanks, Piglet

[Mortitia]

Yes. I would have a go at trying to get the excess off them.

No they cannot claim off your insurance

Think about getting metal recycling bins - they are on ebay . This will show your insurer you are taking precautions. I am not sure I would claim on this as your premium will shoot up. Do you need to?

Mortitia

[Piglet]

I'm not sure - will cost around £1,500 to repair.

I just don't know if I want to try to pursue the tenants for the cost of repair - even if it's likely that one of them caused the fire - how to prove it, how to prove which one (they have conflicting stories of the event) and how to extract the money! I don't know if I have the energy for the fight if the outcome is uncertain.

Thanks, Piglet

[Durwin]

I don't think that you can force them to insure their contents but you can get insurance for your property and then it is the insurance company who is responsible for the damage. you need not to worry about.