No. This is an act of god. You should notify your car insurance.
They can. It's up to them.
Yes, you definitely need renter's insurance if you will be living in an apartment. In case of a fire or damage to the apartment, the building owners insurance will not cover your property. You need your own insurance for your things.
What a landlord verifies is completely up to the landlord
That depends if the place your renting is doing a credit check on you. Not all landlords do credit checks.
Normally under those circumstances you should be covered under the landlords insurance because you are renting from them and you and the house are there responsibility.
Insurance for landlords in the UK can be bought through many of the normal insurance companies such as LV or any of the banks such as Lloyds. Landlords also need to make sure the bank knows they are renting out not living in the house concerned.
No, renting an apartment is cheaper. If you rent a home, you still have to pay taxes on the property, as well as full sewer, electric and all ammenities.
Not for the building fabric - that should be the landlords responsibility, but you would benefit from contents insurance (in case you are robbed etc.).
Landlords need a special type of insurance. When you live in the same property as your tenant, you need "unit rented to others" coverage. When you are renting out a second home, you need to let your insurance company know. Homeowner's insurance is considered a DP-1 policy, which will pay the depreciated value of something, and DP-3 which will pay the replacement value of something, at today's values.
You should make very clear what are you expecting and what are the landlords expecting from you.
First, why is the apartment unlocked? An unlocked apartment can look suspicious to an insurance company. Whether or not the apartment was unlocked, insurance companies are primarily interested in the police report. The police report will determine if there is any indication of fraud. Second, your items may be covered at up to 10% of the personal property coverage on your home insurance policy. Example: if your home insurance covers personal property contents at $100,000, then you would have up to $10,000 for personal property at another residence. However, b/c this is a secondary residence your items may not be covered b/c you are expected to have a separate secondary insurance policy.
The term letting insurance refers to the insurance a landlord has for property they are renting. It covers damage to the property either through accident or natural disaster.