Shared House contents Insurance
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Contents Insurance
Insuring your belongings when you’re a flatmate
Homeprotect home insurance for shared accommodation is designed for housemates, flatmates and renters living in for shared rental properties including flats and houses, student properties and rooms let to lodgers.
Although some insurers will let you take out one policy for the entire property and share the cost between all housemates, this is not always practical. Not all tenants are reliable and personal circumstances can change mid-way through the tenancy. By taking out your own policy you can each insure your own valuables and keep your claims history separate.
What’s more, if you are going to university or college, contents insurance for students is often included under your parents’ home insurance, so you don’t need another policy. With Homeprotect contents insurance policies, students get up to £6,000 worth of contents cover while living in student accommodation.
Responsibilities in a shared house
‘Safety in numbers’ might be how the old saying goes but unfortunately that doesn’t ring true for house shares. When it comes to shared house insurance tenants should take responsibility for their own belongings. Theft, for example, is a key concern in a shared property due to the number of visitors coming and going from the house. It’s important that your room is self-contained with its own lock to reduce this risk.
Your landlord has a responsibility to have buildings insurance in place too. Whereas contents insurance is a ‘nice-to-have’, buildings insurance is an absolute must have.
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What’s covered by contents insurance?
Your belongings make your house feel like home. If they’re stolen, damaged or destroyed, our contents insurance helps cover the cost of replacing them — so you’re not left out of pocket.
- Fire and smoke
- Flood and storm
- Theft and attempted theft
- Escape of water or oil
- Malicious damage
This includes items like furniture, electronics, clothing and kitchenware — plus a limited amount for contents stored in garages, sheds and outbuildings within your boundary.
What we offer
Emergency help when you need it most
If you have a home emergency — such as a power outage, uncontrollable leak or a broken lock — our 24/7 Home Emergency cover is included as standard.
- We aim to get an engineer to you within four hours
- For serious water leaks, we’ll try to have a plumber with you in two hours
Response times may vary during extreme weather. Policy terms and claim limits apply.
5 star rated cover
Our insurance has received the highest rating from independent financial researchers, Moneyfacts.
12-month repair guarantee
Any repair work we arrange after a claim is guaranteed for one year.
New for old
Where we replace a damaged or stolen item, we’ll do our best to match the original — on a ‘new for old’ basis. If that’s not possible, we’ll offer a suitable alternative or a full cash settlement.
Legal support when you need it
Family Legal Protection is included as standard. You’ll have access to expert telephone legal advice on personal matters under the laws of the UK and most of Europe.
What isn’t covered?
There are some things we can’t cover, including:
Items you don’t own or aren’t legally responsible for
Items stolen from unoccupied vehicles
Gradual wear and tear, or damage caused by pets
Faulty design, construction, or workmanship or failure to fix a known issue
Mechanical or electrical breakdown
Keeping your home and belongings in good condition is essential. If damage happens because of neglect or poor maintenance, your claim may be declined, and your policy could be cancelled.
Recommended by our customers
72% Saved money when they switched to Homeprotect*
*Survey data of 1,089 buying customers from 30th October – 12th November 2024
What is included in personal possessions?
When you take out a contents insurance policy your belongings will often be protected within the boundary of the property. To insure items outside the home or of particular value then you should take personal possessions cover, which applies to items that are often take out daily like clothing, wallets/purses, jewellery and cameras. Personal possessions covers each individual item worth up to a maximum of £1,500. If you need to insure items of higher individual value or you need to insure pedal cycles, laptops, tablets or mobile phones then you can do this under our ‘specified items’ cover.
Contents Insurance Cover Levels
Our contents insurance is designed to protect your belongings against insured events such as fire, storm, flood, escape of water, theft, malicious damage, subsidence, landslip or heave.
Contents cover
Protects your household contents — including furniture, clothing, appliances, gadgets and valuables — against events like fire, flood and theft. Cover is provided on a new for old basis.
from £25,000
Alternative accommodation
We’ll help cover the cost of temporary accommodation for you and your pets if your home becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event. If you stay with friends or family instead, we’ll cover your extra living costs.
up to £10,000
Home emergency
Covers sudden, unexpected emergencies — such as an uncontrollable leak — that require immediate action to prevent damage or secure your home. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £500
Family legal protection
Covers legal costs for certain insured events. There must be a reasonable chance of success, and the incident must happen during your policy term. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £25,000
Liability cover
Covers your legal liability for accidental death, injury or illness to someone else, or damage to their property.
up to £5 million
Personal possessions
Covers items you wear, carry or use outside the home (e.g. clothing, bags and sports equipment).
Optional
Gadgets, bikes and valuables away from the home
Optional cover for mobile phones, laptops, tablets, watches, jewellery, hearing aids and other high-risk items you take out of your home.
Optional
Accidental damage
Optional cover for unexpected mishaps around the home — such as breakages, spillages or damage caused by you, your guests or wild animals Two levels of cover are available.
Optional
New Customer?
If you’re deciding on whether to buy home insurance with us, you can use our latest policy booklets as a guide.
Existing Customer?
Your latest policy documents are available to view and download.
Your Questions Answered
An excess is the portion of a claim that you’re responsible for paying. It’s either deducted from your settlement or collected from you if we arrange a repair or replacement. You can find out what excesses you’ll need to pay by logging in to make a claim and selecting your policy in the “Check my cover” section. Your excesses are also listed in your policy documents.
There are three types of excess:
- Compulsory excess – A fixed amount that applies to most claims, based on the type of damage. If your claim includes both Buildings and Contents, a compulsory excess will apply to each.
- Special excess – A higher excess that applies to specific events like flood, escape of water, subsidence, landslip, or heave. If both Buildings and Contents are affected, only one special excess applies.
- Voluntary excess – An extra amount you choose when buying your policy to lower your premium. If your claim includes both Buildings and Contents, the voluntary excess applies to each.
- Exception: voluntary excesses do not apply to Flood Re claims.
You can find your excess amounts in your Policy Schedule or by logging in and selecting your policy in the “Check my cover” section.
Examples:
Example 1 – Claim for one type of damage
Romesh claims for accidental damage to his buildings.
- Compulsory excess: £249
- Voluntary excess: £150
Total excess: £399
Example 2 – Claim affecting both Buildings and Contents
Sam’s theft claim involves damage to both buildings and contents.
- Buildings excess: £249 compulsory + £150 voluntary
- Contents excess: £149 compulsory + £50 voluntary
Total excess: £598
Example 3 – Escape of water affecting both Buildings and Contents
Frankie’s claim is for escape of water.
Voluntary excesses: £100 for Buildings + £100 for Contents
Total excess: £700
Special excess: £500 (applies once)
Although it’s not essential to have contents insurance when you’re renting your home, having suitable cover in place gives you peace of mind should the unexpected happen – see our policy booklet for details of our cover.
The landlord is responsible for maintaining the property in a good state of repair. They will either take care of this directly, or if it is fully managed then via a letting agent. If however you damage the property by accident then you will likely have to pay for repairs, or the cost of repairs will be deducted from your deposit.
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Additional Cover Options
Accidental Damage
The Homeprotect policy includes the option of Basic Accidental Damage, which covers electrical home entertainment equipment (such as desktop computers and monitors, DVD and Blu-Ray players, gaming consoles, home cinema systems, sound systems and TVs) up to £1,500 per claim. An upgrade …
Legal expenses cover
The insurance policy includes Basic Legal Expenses cover which provides up to £25,000 for legal fees you may face for disputes associated with your home; such as ownership of the insured property; and the sale or purchase of the insured property. You can upgrade to Full Legal Expenses cover.
Home emergency cover
The insurance policy includes Basic Home Emergency cover which provides cover for common home emergencies including burst pipes; failure of the domestic power supply (gas or electricity); and removal of pests or vermin. You can upgrade to Full Home Emergency to include cover for roof …
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