One of the great things about renting is that most of the responsibility falls onto the owner of the property if things go wrong, so you’ll find you don’t need to use your own money for the caretaking of the house often. However, it’s important to know that the responsibility of insurance for your possessions within the house rests in your own hands.

So, let’s look at why contents insurance is important for renters and how you can make sure you’ve got the right level of cover for your situation.

Why do I need contents insurance?

When reading about home and contents insurance, it’s easy to understand why some renters think it doesn’t apply to them. Although it’s true that the homeowner will have organised the home insurance side of things, it’s the responsibility of the occupant to cover their own possessions through a separate contents insurance policy. For example, the homeowner would be responsible for structural repairs to the house following fire or flood but would have no obligation to replace your damaged items. The last thing you want is to find yourself underinsured, or not insured at all, after your possessions have been lost, damaged or stolen.

What do I need to consider with contents insurance?

It is recommended that as soon as you take on a new rental, speak with your insurer to put contents insurance in place. Even if you don’t own anything particularly valuable, don’t underestimate how much everything would cost to replace. Before settling on an amount, you want to be insured for, take an inventory of all your possessions and estimate how much it would cost to replace them.

  • If you had insurance at one rental and have moved house, make sure to call your insurer and change over the policy address. Remember, if you’re sharing with housemates, everyone will need to insure their own property.
  • If you have certain items which are valuable, such as jewellery or collectables, make sure you let your insurer know these individual items and the value as these will likely need to be added on to your policy separately. Hold on to proof of ownership such as receipts or take photos of your more expensive possessions to make the process much easier should you need to make a claim.

The bottom line when it comes to contents insurance

Even if you rent, don’t make the mistake of saving some money on premiums in the short term by neglecting to take out contents insurance. Although this might seem like a good way to save some money now, it can have financial consequences down the track should you find yourself in a situation following an incident.

Find out more about CGU contents insurance.

Insurance issued by Insurance Australia Limited ABN 11 000 016 722 trading as CGU Insurance. Any advice is general only. Consider the relevant PDS available from cgu.com.au to see if a product is right for you.