Renters Insurance

If you rent an apartment, condo or house, renters insurance is necessary to keep your possessions protected.

Purpose of Renters Insurance

Renters insurance essentially has two purposes. One, it covers your possessions in the case of a disaster such as a fire, theft or weather event. Two, it offers you a level of personal liability insurance to protect you if you are sued for an accident or other negligent conduct.

When a Disaster Strikes

If your rented living space is destroyed or damaged by a fire or natural disaster, your renters insurance will cover you. Your landlord should carry insurance, but in most cases that will only cover the structure. It's your responsibility to insure your possessions, such as clothing, electronics and other things. That's where renters insurance comes in. Most renters insurance policies also contain a “Loss of Use” feature that is intended to help keep you at the same living standard which you enjoyed prior to the fire or storm which damaged your premises and made it temporarily unlivable. This coverage pays the additional or extra cost. You incur for things such as housing, food, etc. while you are displaced.

How Much Renters Insurance Do You Need?

You need enough insurance to cover the replacement value of what you own. That means you need to take an inventory of what you own and estimate what it would take to replace it at today’s costs. It's a good idea to make a record of everything you own, at a minimum, you should put it down on paper, but you also might want to make a video recording of what you own. It is also important to carry higher liability limits to give you adequate protection in the event of a lawsuit. Lawyers often sue for much more than they expect to settle for, just to put pressure on you to settle. Higher liability limits are very inexpensive.