If you are yet to buy your own home, then you must have thought about taking a renter’s insurance. By the books, this insurance is meant to ensure the tenant’s belongings against any accidental damage like fire or earthquake. Of course, the landlord is not responsible for the safe-keeping of your personal belongings.
Getting a tenant’s insurance helps keep yourself in a safe spot, but at the same time, the insurance of the actual structure lies with the owner. So, the tenant has to pay only for insuring his/her personal belongings. This makes it cheaper than the home owner’s insurance.
People often tend to ignore the fact that while they rent an apartment/house, it is important to keep their belongings safe. Renters’ insurance not only assures this but also covers the tenants against several damages.
Coverage types in renters insurance
Renters insurance provides 3 types of coverage:
- Personal property cover: Personal property cover comes in different coverage limits. When you choose a particular plan, you can pay for the cost of repair or purchase of personal belongings like clothes, furniture, kitchen appliances, and so on. You must note here, you can do this only within the limit of your coverage. It cannot exceed that limit.
- Liability coverage: Suppose you went to someone’s flat and damaged an appliance. The owner can sue you for the damage. When you take a tenant’s insurance, you can pay for those fines. Also, if you happen to hurt someone, you can pay their medical bills with this insurance.
- Additional living expenses: We believe this is the most crucial part of the tenant’s insurance. Your apartment may get damaged due to any natural disaster or accident. In such a situation, the first thing that you need is a place to live. Tenant’s insurance covers your living cost in a hotel for this duration.
But you must remember that the repairing cost of the building will not be covered here. Your owner is responsible for that. Your insurance company will only cover the damages to your personal belongings.
Important facts about renter’s insurance
- It is affordable: Contrary to popular belief, it is quite affordable to get a renter’s insurance. You can easily get one for as low as $12/month. Isn’t that a smart option to protect your personal belongings against damages?
- It covers your back: If you happen to damage someone’s property or physically hurt them, you could be sued by the other party. This happens mostly at hotel parties. If you have the renter’s insurance, it would cover this cost too. If you happen to cause any medical issue to anyone, you can use the insurance to pay their medical bills.
- Protection against damages: When you rent an apartment, you could cause any damage. It could be as minor as breaking down of a circuit or damaging the wiring while drilling a hole. Your landlord, as well as the neighbor, could sue you for this. With renter’s insurance, you are protected against these also.
- Pay for damage to other properties too: Someone placed their belongings in your car and went for a walk. Meanwhile, thieves broke in and took all their stuff. The victim can easily ask you for a refund of all their belongings.
But it was none of your faults! Here, the renter’s insurance comes into the picture. You can use it to pay them for their stolen stuff. This is extremely helpful when you are into the taxi business or run hotels/motels.
- Emergency stays handled: You may need to evict your house in case of natural disasters or other accidents like fire or riot. At that time, you need a place to stay until your home is repaired. Your renter’s insurance pays for the hotel if you opt to stay in this duration.
How to take the renter’s insurance?
We have talked about all the facets of renter’s insurance. If you are yet to buy your own home, we suggest that you take the renter’s insurance. Here are the easy steps to get it:
- Go through your landlord’s insurance policy: As soon as you move in, ask your landlord for a copy of his/her owner’s insurance for the Go through it minutely. Usually, the owner’s insurance covers only the building and basic things like plumbing and electrical wiring. Going through it will give you an idea about the things that you need to get insured.
- Compare: Use comparison websites like https://www.simplyinsurance.com/renters-insurance-quotes/ to compare policies offered by different companies. It will give you a basic idea about the things covered, premium amount, and price. Always pay attention to the things that these policies do not cover. You might not realize but the policy may lack some critical coverage.
- Personal estimation: After you have researched the policies, now is the time for the financial estimation of your belongings. Use the current market value. Never use the price at which you bought it for estimation. After doing this for every belonging of your home, add them up. The resulting amount shows you the approximate value of all your personal belongings.
- Get the quote: After you are done with the estimation of your personal belongings, get the insurance quotes. You can do it online or offline. If you wish to use the online method, you should do so on the company’s website.
Never use unauthorized websites. They may be fraud sites. If you plan to do it offline, you need to meet an insurance advisor who would calculate the rough estimate of your home and calculate the premium amount that you need to pay.
Conclusion
Renter’s insurance is a way of ensuring that your stay is safe and free of worries. Even if you leave the house for a few days, you stay tension-free that your belongings are safe against damages. However, different states have different sets of rules. So, always go through the terms and conditions before making the final call.
