Bills And Expenses To Pay At Your Rented Property
What is council tax?
Council tax is an extra monthly payment that you have to make when you're renting a property as a tenant. Council tax pays for local services, such as the fire service, the police, your rubbish collection and even maintaining the local parks. The amount that you pay in council tax on a property can vary widely depending on where you live. For example, you might only have to pay £60 a month in some areas, but over £200 a month in other areas. It's really important before you sign a letting agreement on a property that you make sure you know how much council tax you will have to pay each month.
What is a television licence and what does it cover?
A television license is a legal requirement. If you have a TV on your property, whatever channels you watch or don't watch, whether you use it just for DVDs or videos, you must have a TV license to cover that household.
What is 'contents insurance'?
Contents insurance covers the items that you own in a property. Contents insurance would, for example, cover a laptop, if you own a sofa, if you have a bike that you keep in the hallway. You take out contents insurance in case something should happen to these. There are two types of contents insurance. Firstly, there's the ordinary type of contents insurance which would just take into account if you were burgled (for example) and your item was stolen. The second type of contents insurance is accidental cover which means that if you accidentally break something within that property you can also get it replaced.
Do I need contents insurance?
As a tenant, the only contents insurance that the landlord will cover are the items that they own. If there's a burglary and all your items are stolen, the landlord's contents insurance will not cover those items. You need to protect them yourself.
Do I need to get buildings insurance?
It's highly unlikely as a tenant that you would be asked to cover building insurance. It's the landlord's responsibility to take care of the structure of the building and any of its fixtures and fittings. Buildings insurance covers these items not the contents, for example, that you might own.
