How home contents insurance can protect hardship funds and support tenants

Reports from the Regulator of Social Housing, Parliament and local government show that social housing providers are under growing financial pressure. Rising repairs and maintenance costs, new building safety requirements and investment in decarbonisation all demand significant funding. This can reduce the money available for wider tenant support. 

If hardship funds are used to replace tenants’ personal belongings after events such as fires or floods, this can limit the help available for other urgent needs, such as preventing homelessness or tackling fuel poverty.

Where home contents insurance makes a difference

Home contents insurance can work alongside hardship funds to give better protection for both tenants and landlords.

In incidents such as fire, flood, escape of water or theft, landlords are usually responsible for the structure of the building and its fixtures, but not for tenants’ personal possessions. Without contents insurance, tenants often have to request help from their landlord’s hardship funds to replace items such as:

• Furniture, carpets and curtains.
• Clothing, bedding and personal items.
• Electrical goods and appliances.
• Children’s items such as toys, school uniforms and equipment.

If tenants have home contents insurance in place:

• The insurance policy, rather than the hardship fund, pays to replace lost or damaged belongings.
• Hardship funds can be kept for other urgent interventions, such as rent support to prevent eviction, emergency food or energy support, or specialist assistance in complex welfare cases.
• Tenants are more likely to be fully rehoused and settled more quickly, as their possessions can be replaced through a clear and established claims process.

In short, home contents insurance helps protect both tenant’s contents and landlords limited discretionary resources.

Working together

By encouraging and helping tenants to access suitable home contents insurance, landlords and partner organisations can:

• Strengthen tenants’ financial resilience.
• Protect scarce hardship funds for the most critical, non insurable needs.
• Support better outcomes when the worst happens.