Saturday, July 02, 2005

How to Apply for Insurance

In Japan, a guarantor (hoshounin) is usually required before you can move into a private apartment. The guarantor's statement guarantees that the tenant will pay the rent and not damage the place. In most cases, the supervisor carries the burden to become the guarantor for foreign students. This comprehension renter's insurance and guarantor's protection fund makes it easier for foreign students to secure a guarantor by easing the psychological and financial burdens placed on the person acting as his/her guarantor.
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This policy covers :
1. Tenant's legal liability (upto 20 million yen)
- provides protection against damages (for which the tenant is legally liable to the landlord) as a result of an accidental fire, burst pipe or explosion giving damage to the rented accommodations.
2. Personal liability (upto 10 million yen)
- provides protection against damages as a result of causing an accidental injury to a third party or damaging any property, belonging to a third party.
3. Personal property (upto between 424,000 and 629,000 yen)
- provides protection for damage to the tenant's personal belongings caused by fire, burst pipe, flood etc.
4. Guarantor's legal liability (upto 300,000 yen)
- provides protection to guarantor in the event he/she is legally liable for expenses arisis from the tenant's default or rental payment.

Insurance fee and other charges : 7,500 yen for 1-year term.

How to apply for the insurance ?

1. Consult with the foreign student affairs department. The school will provide premium payment/receipt form
2. Pay total amount of premium at the post office.
3. Submit receipt form to the foreign student affairs department.
4. Department to deliver policyholder's certificate.
5. Give the policyholder's certificate (guarantor's copy) to the guarantor.
6. Sign the rental agreement with real estate agency or the owner.
7. Submit a 'copy of the rental agreement' to the foreign student affairs department.
8. Move into the accommodations.

Finding a guarantor and big amount of deposit money before moving in to a private apartment can sometimes be a big burden to foreign students.

12 comments:

Primrose said...

So who's your guarantor now? The university?

Acrix said...

Luckily in M'sia here dun need to find any gurantor~ I paid 2 months rental deposit for my current place as well as rm 420 for utilities deposit. WIll be moving out in few months time and i doubt the agent will swiftly return the deposit to me once i move out...

Somemore, if need to secure another place, i need to pay some deposit again and that will run up to around rm 1++ k. And worse still, i accumulate so much stuff during this 1 year. sigh! I hate moving house~

Oh yah, last time i watch some documentary movie on tv, and some japanese owners stated that they won;t rent their units to gaijin. Can this be an issue of racism? Just like some of the bar or so that state "no gaijin allowed"...

Anonymous said...

I presume everything is fine with you, your apartment, your lab work. But then, you staying alone in this apartment?..honestly speaking, i love all e arrangement of your room/apartment..one thing is why did you squeeze all e things in one room..am looking at e TV, ur notebook, ur pic frame..although is one look but then it's so neat and tidy anyways, love it!..oh yeah, i love e shower room, so true, so romantic!..hmm, kinda waste if you didn't use the kichen, nevermind since u're not cooking..hey, try to avoid eat out and the artificial thingly k?...am glad to know you had moved into a new environment..okay, really look like a studio aptmt..And yes, may i know who is your guarantor for this apartment?
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Blog post dated Jan 23 onwards:-

Tokyo Disneyland: i wish to try out the mickey mouse ice cream, look tempting, may i know how was the taste? and so adorable!

Blog post dated Jan 30 onwards:-
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-I know how to pronounce the chinese word of your kyoto uni "Jing Du Da Xue".

-I love your uni cafeteria, so you love the food there? and did you also having dinner over there? i love the environment. You had pretty nice uni.

-In the agricultural department..i was searching your name..but i can't see it? may i know which one was that?

These few days, i didn't put a msg on your blog or chatbox, coz i see you was busy..so don't dare to disturb and me too busy..Everything will be fine with you. :) okbye!

charlene.

Patrick Leong said...

primrose : my academic advisor is now my apartment guarantor.

acrix : yes, it is quite tiring to move from one apartment to another. not only have to spend time packing and unpacking, changing address (bank, post office, city hall, cellphone, credit card etc etc), looking for guarantor, one requires to pay a huge amount of money before moving into the new place.

The kenrikin is basically for signing the rental contract and is usually equivalent to one month’s rent. It is non-refundable. One can ask to have this charge removed from your rental contract as there is no law that stipulates tenants have to pay kenrikin.

The reikin is a gratuity payment to the landlord (gift money). This can often be in the range of two month’s rent. This is non-refundable.

The shikikin is used to cover damage to the apartment. Shikikin is REFUNDABLE. The cost of the deposit may be around two month’s rent. In my case, it is 100,000 yen (3 month's rent).

There exists yet another hefty charge called koshinryo. This is similar to kenrikin above but has to be paid when tenants renew their contract after two years. In my case, in order to renew the contract, I have to pay 54,000 yen.

Therefore the combined cost of all such fees is indeed a hefty sum. There are also other monthly fees that one has to pay when living in the apartment. for my new place, there is no need for kenrikin and reikin.

well, and about the 'gaijin' thing, not all japanese hate foreigners. how japanese view non-japanese is always a subject of debate. in some cases there is a mixture of admiration, suspicion, and most often a lot of nervousness about dealing with someone who doesn't look or act like the japanese. i do have several good japanese friends.

charlene : yea. i need time to adapt. but so far it is quite nice. eddie (another malaysian) is staying a few rooms away. i usually spend most of my time at school. the previous dorm is just several mins (by bicycle) from my new home. i can always visit them and participate in the dorm activities. tonight friends are coming over for pizza. i quite like the place. once the internet and satellite TV done, it is complete. but the current room is slightly smaller than the previous one. my academic advisor has agreed to become my guarantor.

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1. micky mouse ice cream flavor : orange (if i am not mistaken).

2. the food in the cafeteria is not that bad but if one has to eat the same type of food everyday, it can become awful. just for convenience that i usually eat in the school canteen plus sometimes cup noodles.

3. oh, my name ? instead of patrick, they printed my chinese name - 龍 正民 :P

dont worry about disturbing. if i have time, i will answer the messages. currently i only access internet in the lab. hopefully i can get the line in the next couple of weeks. have a good weekend too.

pinkylicious said...

Seems like it is not that easy to live independently. So many things we need to learn in order to survive!!!

Nightraveller said...

Wow! Your Chinese name is very nice! really!

Acrix said...

Kenrikin and reikin sounds scary! In the end, u pay like half a year of rental be4 u can move in... That;s serious alot of money :S

Oh yah, can u mail ur mailing address to my email at acrix_69@hotmail.com .GOna mail ya the postcard soon (in a week or so)~

Patrick Leong said...

emotionalistic : well, you will get used to it. i prefer to have my own place. not that i dont like to live with my parents. everytime i am back in malaysia, i have to share room with my youngest brother. in addition it is always messy at home. imagine only my mum does the clean up. my brothers plus father are super lazy in house cleaning. they just throw things everywhere. every year, after getting home, the next day i usually do house cleaning. i have been staying out for like more than 10 years. i miss home-cooked food. mummy's cooking. i think i have not tried my mum's chicken curry for more than 10 years. she doesnt cook often these days. because everyone is out. myself and my sister only visit them once a year. when we are back she does alot of cooking especially good soup. but i dont remember eating chicken curry for a long time.

night traveler : yea. i know it is nice name. too great for someone like me. a name for the kings. and my friends teased that i am just the 'chut chai'.

acrix : one can easily pay up to rm5000 for the first month. but i have a good landlord. he allows me to pay the shikikin of 100,000 yen in 3 installments. and i have sent you my email address via my university email. thanks alot.

pinkylicious said...

So the next time you go home again, you must get the curry chicken recipe from your mother so that you can cook from yourself :P. Wah...10 years is a long time....I cannot imagine myself not going home for 10 years.

Fish Fish said...

Hey, how is your new room. Settle down d? Reikin is a STUPID idea.

Lrong Lim said...

agree with the reikin thingy... just a way to cheat money out of tenants...

Patrick Leong said...

emotionalistic : everytime i go back to malaysia for short breaks, i will stock up half of my luggage with instant adabi curry sauce plus lotsa instant maggi mee before returning to japan.

fish fish : sort of settled down. but still busy. not really settled with the new lab yet. my experiments seem quite tough.

lrong : i am quite lucky since there is no need to pay reikin for my current apartment. in fact this is my fourth time moving. i have never paid reikin in the previous renting as well.