If you are living in rented accommodation then you may overlook the importance of having home insurance but have you thought about what happens should any of your contents get stolen or damaged? It is very unlikely that the home insurance of your landlord is going to cover your belongings; in fact it is most probably the case that this will only cover the buildings itself and also any outbuildings.

So it is high time that you got yourself one of the many policies that cater especially for contents insurance for tenants. Only with one of these can your rest assured that your possessions will be covered while you are renting that residence. And this counts just as much for student sharers as it does for professional tenants.

It is of course wise to check first whether or not the insurance of your landlord will cover you, especially if your are renting a furnished property where many of the contents will in fact be those of your landlord. He/she will probably have these covered by a landlords contents insurance policy and it is possible that it protects your belongings too as the tenant. But if you find that you are not insured in any way then a specialist contents insurance policy for tenants is an option. But remember to check whether or not:

• each individual resident of the property requires tenants insurance
• if you are covered by your landlord's policy, how much cover does it entitle you and does it include items such as bikes?
• if there is an outside space, is it covered by the landlord's contents insurance?

This tenant contents insurance cover can often be payed for monthly to help spread the cost and sometimes include cover for things such as bicycles. Their can also be tentants contents insurance that has the option to insure your rent payments meaning no risk of you defaulting on payments.

If you, as a tenant, are in a furnished place then be warned: it is becoming more commonplace for the landlord to require that a tenants' insurance cover the rented furniture too and if you neglect this then you could end up paying more in the long run.