Flatshare: who is covered

Liability cover is personal

Your personal liability policy covers you and, depending on the contract, the people living in a common household with you. A flatmate is generally NOT a common household: they share a flat, they are not family.

In practice: if your flatmate causes water damage to the flat below, your policy does not cover it. Each person needs their own — and many leases require it anyway.

Household insurance covers a home, not people

Household insurance covers the belongings in the home. In a flatshare the question is whose name it is in: if only one flatmate is the policyholder, only their belongings are insured, and the others are paid nothing.

Two honest solutions: one policy each, or a single policy that names every flatmate explicitly. The second assumes the insurer accepts it — ask in writing, not on the phone.

The sum insured must then match the value of EVERYTHING in the flat. A sum calculated for one person applied to four creates underinsurance, and the proportional rule cuts every payout.

Subletting, a case of its own

• ✓The main tenant remains liable towards the landlord: damage caused by the subtenant is charged to them, and they then claim it back.
• ✓The subtenant needs their own personal liability cover. Without it, damage is settled between two private individuals, which rarely ends well.
• ✓A sublet not declared to the landlord may, depending on the contract, reduce or cancel household cover. Declare it: it costs nothing and closes the gap.
• ✓For short-term letting between private individuals, check this point explicitly with your insurer: many policies exclude it.