Agency criticises tenants for "madness" of no contents insurance

New research conducted by a letting agency shows that 61 per cent of tenants currently have no contents insurance, with 48 per cent admitting that they have never taken out contents insurance at a property they have lived in during their lives.

Some 19 per cent of tenants said they had no idea what contents insurance was while amongst those who did actually have a policy, some 42 per cent didn’t know what it covered or what to do in the event of needing to make a claim. 

These figures are brought further into focus by the final discoveries of the Upad research, which show that 78 per cent of tenants have belongings that value more than £1,000 with 22 per cent having belongings at home with an aggregate value of over £5,000. 

“It’s madness that tenants are exposing themselves like this, regardless of whether they’re trying to save money or for some reason think their landlord’s own insurance will keep them covered in the event of loss or damage to their property” says Upad founder James Davis.

“Tenants are far better served having contents insurance that they don’t need rather than finding out they badly need it at precisely the time when something goes horribly wrong. Remember that even in a fully furnished property tenants will still have plenty of their own belongings. If tenants are unsure about their level of cover they should check their insurance policy or with their letting agent or landlord” he adds.