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If you rent your home then your landlord is responsible for getting buildings insurance to cover the costs of repairing or rebuilding the actual structure. Your possessions will not be insured by the landlord so you need to get a separate contents insurance policy.

The cheapest contents insurance policies will give you protection against financial losses if your things are damaged or destroyed by flood, fire or theft. A slightly higher premium will buy you cover for your belongings even if they are damaged or stolen when you are away from home. This cover can be especially handy for expensive items such as laptops, mobile phones or jewellery.

If the home you rent is fully furnished by the landlord, then the chances are that the costs of mending or replacing any damaged items will be taken out of your deposit. You may want to take out a special tenants contents insurance policy which will protect your deposit. Shop around and you will find that these policies can be very reasonably priced.

If you share your rented property with others, some insurers will allow you to take out a joint policy. This can work out cheaper than each of you buying separate contents insurance so it is worth shopping around.

When you take out your policy you will have to give an estimate of the total value of all the items you wish to insure. The greater the amount, the higher the premium, but dont be tempted to give a lower value than you would need to replace them all or you will lose out if you need to claim.

Keep in mind that for your landlord the security of your possession may not be as high a priority as it is for you, so if you have any concerns about the security of your rented home then be sure to raise this with them. Windows which have no locks and a lack of a burglar alarm could make your house an easy target for burglars.

When you move into a rented property ask the landlord about changing the locks. If the locks have not been changed, previous tenants may have copies of the keys to your home and could use them to steal your things.

Also ask your landlord about checks to gas appliances and make sure you mention any faulty or damaged electrical appliances. Insist that smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are fitted and test them regularly.

Make sure that you keep an inventory of items that you own, with receipts if possible particularly for expensive items like computers, mp3 players and cameras.