Hi, I'm living in a rented shared apartment in Madrid.

Last night, I had a lucky escape when a large, heavy piece of furniture in my bedroom toppled over on top of me. It fell across me, hit a wardrobe on the way down and finally came to rest on my computer table and against the opposite bedroom wall (and also on my laptop which is wrecked).

It was clear that the piece of furniture really should have been secured, either to the wall behind it or to something either side of it, not left free-standing.

I rang the landlady immediately to explain the damage to the piece itself, the wardrobe, the wall and my laptop and told her that I was carefully keeping note of times and damage for insurance purposes.

She called this morning to say she had spoken to her insurance company who said she was only covered for floods, fire and theft. She has agreed to buy me a new laptop herself, but I was shocked to hear that a privately rented flat with 3 people living in it, doesn't have cover for accidental damage.

Can anyone tell me if in fact she should legally have arranged more comprehensive insurance before renting the flat out to us?

My concern is that it could have been much worse and whilst my laptop is replaceable, if there had been physical damage to me, it appears I wouldn't have been covered.

It is almost always the case, and is in most cases written into the contract, that contents insurance is the responsibility of the tennant!

As a landlord, I was shocked by this but investigated and found this to be the case.

So with me as a landlord renting out furnished flats, the responsibility is the tennants - how daft is that?

Interesting. The strange thing here is that obviously as a shared flat, my contract only specifically says that I rent my room, but I have the "use of the rest of the flat".

My contract doesn't mention insurance at all. Since moving in here, we've found out that it may not even be a "legal" contract. She wrote it herself, using wording off the net, it's not notarised and we know for a fact that she's not declaring the income.

My landlady has gone from saying this morning that she will buy me a new laptop, to now saying I have to take it to a local repair place, she will lend me a laptop in the meantime and if mine isn't fixable then she's only prepared to buy me a 2nd hand one.

Am I basically stuck on this one?!

I'm not quite sure what constitutes a "legal" contract. We write our own (in Spanish) based on others that we have seen (on internet, from estate agents etc.). We declare all income and pay all the necessary taxes. How more legal we can be I'm not sure.

If we were to employ a notary to 'stamp' the contracts, then we would certainly be out of pocket because we are finding tennants wishing to stay longer than 6 months very few and far between!

We rent out our apartment to holiday makers. I told our spanish insurance company and they said that legally we had to have public liability insurance which pays up (i think) if a renter gets injured in the apartment.

I have since asked around and most experts agree it would be irresponsible of an owner not to have public liability insurance if in the business of renting an apartment.

Had you had the misfortune to have been injured by the wardrobe, or whatever, you would be entitled to sue for damages.

On the one occasion when we had a break in the tenants' insurance paid for laptop and cash. I am surprised you do not have such contents insurance. Even when renting at Uni i had contents insurance and once made a claim for Hi Fi after a reckless party

Oh, now that is very interesting! Having initially thought I had come away unscathed from the incident, today I discovered massive bruises on both arms, my back and one buttock! Sorry if that's too much info. The muscles around my throat also hurt a little like I have whiplash.

One small problem I have with that is that I have yet to do my empadronamiento so can't actually see a public doctor here.

However, knowing my landlady as I do, she is very stingy and I can guarantee she won't have forked out for public liability insurance. I'm sure the reason we are only covered here for flood, fire and theft will be because it's the cheapest. She doesn't declare the income at all, takes our rent in cash and makes no pretence about it.

The reason I haven't sorted out contents insurance is that I had no idea until yesterday that it was the tenants' responsibility. The only flat I ever rented in the UK came with fully comprehensive contents insurance paid for by the landlord so I never gave it a second thought. I just assumed it was a legal obligation over here too. Though I guess, given that I now know that the landlady hasn't done anything else via the legal route, I should have known better.

I'll be taking legal advice as soon as I can now that these bruises have come up, and most people have told me that the fact that this huge piece of furniture wasn't screwed to the wall is pretty much clearly negligence.

Thanks everyone.

Its not a legal obligation for the landlord to take fully comp contents insurance in the UK or in Spain.

Also, unless you go and make a denuncia immediately, have photos taken of your injuries and a written statement from a doctor then you wont have a case.

And this isnt the US, any compensation will be for loss of earnings, so if your injuries are minor I wouldnt bother.

I do not understand, how exactly did this wardrobe would fall over on you? Was the wardrobe defective? It is not usual for a wardrobe to be fixed to the wall.

If you knocked over the wardrobe somehow, I would doubt the landlord has any reponsibilty for your injuries or consequential damage to your property.

I would hope that the LL has insurance for 3rd party liability, but that would be his /her choice. I would suggest it may be difficult for you to claim liabilty for neglidgence by the LL.