Help! Does this part of my tenancy agreement sound right?

[reddeadredemption]

About to rent a new flat and just seen this bit in the contract:

Oops, fat fingers.

Anyway, this bit:

4.4) The tenants will ensure that adequate Insurance for their rental property is obtained prior to commencement of the tenancy, and is maintained throughout the entire tenancy period. The insurance must cover accidental damage to their landlord’s possessions including carpets and white goods were applicable.

Do I have to insure stuff that I don't even own? Just seems really odd to me.

Does sound odd. But if you did accidentally damage white goods or carpets you would have to pay Landlord for repairs, so may be worth insuring them anyway.

it is a bit garbled to say the least. What should happen is:

you don't insure the 'rental property' (i.e the flat!) - that is for the landlord to insure. You also don't insure his stuff against most risks

BUT
you do insure your possessions (i.e. your property) as that is not his problem if there is fire/flood/theft. He's also asking you to have accidental damage for his stuff - this is a good idea for both of you. Why? Because if you do accidentally damage things beyond wear and tear it will come out of your deposit (your problem), and if the deposit isn't enough the landlord has a problem.

this kind of cover is standard in most tenant's policies, costs peanuts and so is a good idea.

you can argue - he can't enforce this. But if anything happens to your stuff, it will NOT be for him to replace. Particular risk in flats where it only takes the person above to leave taps running to bring down the ceiling.

We had ll insurance which had exclusions so can believe that such a request is feasible. You need your own contents covered anyway.

Thanks guys. I've rented a few properties before and never come across this before so wanted to make sure it wasn't something dodgy.

I work for a large letting agent and this is in our agreements.

If you have contents insurance with accidental damage cover, I don't see what the problem is ?. You cant get a policy and then request to remove the white goods, it's all or nothing.

As a tenant I believe you need to have this insurance to protect yourself. If you cause damage to the property you will be able to access the personal liability part of your contents insurance.

For example a few years ago my neighbour plugged in a tv in her lounge and overnight it caught fire. While everyone got out ok the entire property was destroyed. The fire service determined that the fire started in the corner of the lounge where the tv was but couldn't prove it was the tv that caused the fire. If the fire service did prove that the TV caused the fire then the insurance company would of claimed the cost of damage from my neighbour as she plugged the appliance in - therefore she was responsible for the damage.

While it appears that this is unfair if you have contents insurance with personal liability then your cost will be limited to your excess for any insurance claims your landlord makes.