Think for a moment what you would do if you lost all your belongings as a result of a fire or flood. Would you be able to afford to replace them? Without insurance, the answer could be no.

Some tenants believe we automatically insure their furniture, fittings and other belongings against fire, theft, vandalism and water damage. This is wrong. Unfortunately, they only realise this after the damage has been done.

As your landlord, we are responsible for insuring the structure of your home, which includes the provision of main services such as gas, electricity and water. This means that, following an incident such as a flood or fire, our insurers would make sure these are returned to the condition they were in before the incident. For further information, email us at housing.services@tendringdc.gov.uk.

However, you are responsible for your belongings and, in general, these will only be covered by our insurance if we are legally responsible for the damage. In any other circumstances, you would have to meet the cost of replacing your furniture, electrical equipment or other possessions. As well as this, if you had a chip-pan fire, for instance, and your neighbour suffered any losses, you could be financially responsible for these.

We would therefore strongly advise you to take out a suitable household contents insurance policy. Policies offer different types of protection at different costs, so it is always best to shop around to find the one that best suits your needs before making a final decision.