What is Renter’s Insurance- A Complete Guide

Renters insurance may not look appealing, but it is as important as any other perk of renting a home. There are a handful of advantages and valid reasons to take it seriously. It provides a safety check to you and your staff. Uncertainty is one thing you shall never underestimate so it is always better to be safe. Do yourself a favor and know about renter insurance in detail.

Do You Know What Renter’s Insurance is?

Since you have convinced yourself that how important it is then here you are likely to know what does it exactly mean.

A renter’s insurance policy is a form of financial protection for you and your staff.  Under the umbrella of renter’s insurance comes protection for your personal property, liability coverage, and coverage for additional living expenses.

During your campaign of apartment searching, many landlords and property managers ask for the renter’s insurance policy. Some go as precise as dictating the minimum amount of renter’s insurance.

To be honest, there is no set bar for minimum insurance. You shall figure it out based on your list of belongings to reduce the risk involved. Even if your landlord does not make it mandatory for you, it goes in your favor to get one.

How Much Makes A Reasonable Renters Insurance?

Most renters’ insurance plans amount to an average of $10-$15 a month or a $120-$180 one-time annual payment. The typical minimum requirement for landlords and property managers is to have $100,000 in liability coverage and it makes up the average policy for renter’s insurance in general. You are likely to get the benefit of $25,000 coverage for personal property, liability coverage of $100,000. Does it not sound reasonable to you?

All the more important is how to get renters insurance. Well, you are likely to know it now.

A Guide To Getting Renters Insurance:

If you already are hiring the services of any insurance firm, then you may use the same firm for this as well. If you never had any kind of insurance, then take the following steps.

• Get Information about your Property Manager or Landlord about their Insurance Policy:

Generally, a property manager or landlord has an insurance policy which covers apartment buildings and any additional amenity structures but it does not include tenant or tenant’s stuff. It is better to adjust your plan accordingly.

• Elevate your Personal Property:

We generally don’t keep a comprehensive record of how much we own. It’s about time to give it a try and evaluate your property. It is likely to help you finalize the insurance plan tailored to your requirements.

• Draw Comparison Among Different Companies:

The insurance market is highly competitive and there is always a race to convince the client to their policy. You can play that point to your benefit. Consider taking plans from different companies and doing a comparative study.

• Ask for a Quote:

When you find any policy convincing, you need to talk to the company and ask for the exact cost along with covered liabilities.

What Exactly does your Insurance Coverage Include?

Renter’s insurance policy chiefly deals with personal property, personal liability, and additional living expenses. Let’s dig deep into each category to know in detail.

• What Is Included in Personal Property:

Anything you own is included in the personal property. All your belongings in the apartment including your furniture, clothing, electronics, accessories, or whatever are covered.

• What does Personal Liability Mean?

While you would not expect yourself to damage someone’s property or your apartment but then accidents happen all the time. For example, your son playing soccer in front of the apartment kicks a ball and accidentally ends up breaking the front glass of the neighbor’s car or for that sake damages an antique showpiece in their building. If an onus comes at you to pay for the damage, your renter’s insurance policy will bear all the expenses.

In case you keep pets then you will find renter’s insurance a great relief. In case, your dog happens to bite your neighbor or someone visiting your home, your insurance policy is likely to cover all the medical costs.

• Additional Living Expenses:

If you face any disaster like a fire or fallen tree you will get compensation for that as well. In case of those emergencies, you will hardly have any time to prepare yourself to react to the situation. If the catastrophe has not left your apartment habitable, the insurance company is supposed to bear the hotel charges until the problem is fixed at your home.

What is not included in Renter’s Insurance?

While knowing what is included in the renter’s insurance is important it is all the same important to know what is not included.

• Most policies do not automatically cover things like a backup of sewage into your residence, earthquakes, floods, and other natural phenomena. Though, you can incorporate them by paying premium charges.
• In case you own something too expensive or valuable like fine jewelry or an antique collection of art, they are not included in the policy. Generally speaking, you have to take a separate policy for those items.
• And it also does not include any damage inflicted intentionally or due to the renter’s negligence.

Final Takeaways:

By now, you must have enlightened yourself to get a good idea of all the merits and demerits of the renter’s insurance. To be honest, the merits outweighs the demerits with good proportion. The greatest of advantage is that it will give you peace of mind. Without giving it a second thought, get good insurance coverage, now.