Industry News


Under one in ten private renters has home contents insurance


protecting them against damages, loss and theft. New data from the comparison website


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GoCompare shows that just 7 per cent of contents insurance quotes are for customers privately renting homes. Approximately one in five UK households


currently live in the private rented sector (4.5million families), yet only 315,000 of these take out contents cover. That means that more than 4 million households are not insured should any of their belongings get damaged, lost or stolen. In comparison, the data shows that more than


half (56 per cent) of the proportion of GoCompare customers who requested a contents insurance quote were mortgaged homeowners, while 36 per cent of homeowners requiring a quote had already paid off their mortgage. Landlords who rent their accommodation can


take out landlord insurance for their properties, which offers building’s insurance, and can take out additional contents insurance for white goods and fixtures and fittings, but this will not cover the tenants’ belongings. Contents insurance covers all of a policy holder’s


belongings, that includes anything that isn’t fixed down permanently. It can also include accidental damage cover, as well as specific items such as jewellery or tech. Ryan Fulthorpe, from GoCompare


home insurance, said: “We know that the private rental market is growing quickly, and more people are choosing to rent rather than buy homes due to the current surge in house prices, but this data is concerning.


“A lot of those in private rental accommodation


are leaving themselves open to being majorly out of pocket should they be burgled or have an accident with one of their high value items. Landlords take out insurance to cover the contents of a property, but not a tenant’s property, that is their responsibility.” Ryan added: “It’s worrying to think that so


many families living in rented accommodation are leaving themselves open to losing possibly


thousands of pounds if the worst happened, as well as to cover those high value items away from home – as many contents insurance policies offer some form of cover if an item is lost away from the property. “Premiums can be as little as £137.50


a year, meaning tenants will have the peace of mind that they have protected their worldly goods, without too much of a dent on their pockets.”


illions of private tenants risk losing their valuables and essential property as they fail to take out contents insurance,


Fears growing that DWP will demand repayment of benefits


The number of private tenants claiming Universal Credit more than doubled in the past year to over 1.5 million but fears are growing that many of them will be told to repay thousands of pounds each. When the first lockdown happened in March last


year the Government suspended doing full checks on claims because it could not see claimants face to face. At that time there were 749,000 claimants who


were private renters. By February this year that number had soared to 1,549,000, an increase of 800,000 or more than 100 per cent. The Department for Work and Pensions is now revisiting many of the claims it approved without


undertaking standard verification processes at the time. It is feared that many thousands of claimants will not have access to copies of the documents required by the DWP, such as rent books, invoices or tenancy agreements. Already there are reports of some tenants


being asked to repay sums of more than £5,000 each. Money they do not have and also have no chance of getting in the months ahead. They now face the prospect of having benefit payments reduced (while the ‘overpayments’ are clawed back) or removed entirely. This has a potentially devastating impact on tens of thousands of private renters. Housing charity Safer Renting fears a


24 | HMM August/September 2021 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


growing number of tenants will be told to repay benefits they received, because they live in a “shadow part” of the private renting sector. In many cases tenants living in unlicensed


Houses in Multiple Occupation are not aware that they are ineligible for housing benefit – often because their landlord has not given them a tenancy agreement, nor had their legal status explained to them. In other arrangements, where people have moved


in with friends and pay rent to a housemate (often known as a ‘rent-to-rent’ arrangement), they are also unable to provide documentation acceptable to the DWP.


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