contents insurance for renters
Letters to the editor: Aug. 23, 2010
Here are letters to the editor from Daily News editions of Aug. 12, 2010.
Flood Insurance Door to Door
Various queries on renting a flat – never done it before!?
Hi,
I might need to rent a furnished flat in the north of England very soon. I have a mortgaged flat in London but if I take a job in the north, I’ll need to get a flat asap.
I am thinking of letting my ex partner stay in my London flat and pay me the mortgage every month….are they any legal implications if I do this? I mean do I have to inform anyone?
Also, as regards the flat that I may rent….as I say, I’ve never rented before; apart from the monthly rent, what else would I have to pay? I assume I’d have to pay for whatever gas or electricity I used, but how about contents/buildings insurance? Council tax? Water rates? Are some expenses built into the cost of the rent?
Sorry I have so many questions but I’d be grateful for any advice from experienced renters or lettings agents….
Thanks so much.
Oh I fogot to mention – do rented flats tend to come with a landline? Also, how would one get a broadband connection?
As far as your London flat goes, your best bet is to draw up a standard tenancy agreement as if your ex-partner was just any other tenant. It gets a bit difficult if you’re trying to make him responsible for the mortgage – at the end of the day if he doesn’t pay up, it’s your flat that will be getting repossessed. This means that if you don’t have a fixed rate mortgage then your mortgage payments will fluctuate over time so he may not be paying the exact sum that payments are costing, but you should be able to get it close enough. You do need to inform the bank that this flat is no longer your main residence and this could possibly (but not definitely) affect your mortgage terms, and it will usually affect your insurance.
In terms of the flat you are going to rent, you will need to pay:
- Council tax
- Water rates
- Electricity
- Gas
- TV licence
- Contents insurance to cover your own property only, not to cover furniture etc. (You do not pay buildings insurance.)
No, the property does not usually come with a landline phone but you are of course free to get it connected yourself, and you will pay for line rental and calls yourself. You will also pay for broadband yourself. Satellite television is the only thing that you must ask the landlord’s permission for, since installing a satellite dish could cause damage to the property, but anything else like this you just go ahead and pay for it yourself.