Low Level of Contents Insurance Take-up By Tenants
Fewer than half of UK tenants have contents insurance take-up in place, a new YouGov survey claims.
The survey of over 1,000 private tenants was commissioned by PropTech Paymentshield and shows the volume of private tenants surveyed with contents insurance take-up dropping from 51% in 2023 to 46% now.
The Renters Rights Bill as originally envisaged gave landlords the right to require tenants with pets to take out suitable insurance. However, a last-minute amendment now under consideration could reverse the requirement.
Paymentshield claims the research shows what it calls “a concerning mismatch between tenants’ perceived and actual insurance needs.”
While 28% of uninsured respondents say they don’t have enough belongings to make contents insurance worthwhile, over three in five (62%) value their possessions at over £5,000.
One quarter of respondents said their belongings are worth between £5,000 and £15,000, with a further one quarter saying over £25,000.
A spokesperson for Paymentshield says:
“We’re at a pivotal moment for the rental insurance market, but tenants need to be informed about the potential changes that could impact their livelihood. The industry has a clear role to play in closing this information gap.
“We’ve worked hard to make uptake of contents insurance policies as straightforward as possible, developing slick technology to embed the insurance journey into the existing online journeys of our lettings partners, and introducing a pay monthly policy.
“With over three in five respondents having possessions worth more than £5,000, the financial risk of being uninsured is simply too great to ignore.”
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