When Can Renters Insurance Come in Handy?

If you’re renting a home or apartment, relying solely on your landlord’s insurance for your own safety and that of the belongings in your space is unwise. Yes, the property itself is insured and protected from damages; however, it doesn’t reimburse you for your possessions, damages to appliances, and injuries sustained in the rented area, just to name a few.

What Does Renters Insurance Cover?

Renters insurance provides:

1. Coverage of your belongings in the event of theft, fire or water damage, vandalism, a windstorm, hail, and other listed perils according to your policy. This includes furniture, appliances, electronic devices, and clothing.
2. Loss-of-use coverage. If you are forced to leave the rented premises owing to damage caused by a covered loss, your insurance provider will reimburse you for living expenses while you stay elsewhere.
3. Personal liability. It protects you if another individual sustains injuries or damage that you are liable for (i.e., a guest trips and breaks their arm in your house). This will cover the injured person’s medical bills.

Renters’ insurance does not go beyond your policy limits and provides compensation without your deductible.

How Renters Insurance Can Help You Even When You’re Not at Home

As much as we don’t like to think about them, unfortunate scenarios happen all the time. Theft of electronic devices is one of them, and it’s a relatively common occurrence.

Your Computer or Phone Gets Stolen

Personal electronics theft is prevalent in airports, trains, public transport, and crowded places. Getting a similar replacement laptop can be very expensive, depending on how sophisticated and new your previous one was. Luckily theft is an included peril in renters insurance, no matter if it takes place inside or outside the property, so you will be reimbursed for your computer.

There are two ways in which personal property compensation can occur: payment based on actual cash value or replacement cost.

Actual cash value corresponds to the initial sum you purchased your laptop for minus depreciation over time. Meaning you will not be reimbursed for the full price of your possession.

If you are reimbursed based on replacement cost, you’re paid for the price of a PC with comparable quality and functionality to your stolen one.

The same can be said about stolen phones, scooters, bikes, and other property at risk of being stolen when you are traveling, commuting, running errands, etc.

Property Stored in Vehicle Gets Stolen

Even if renters insurance does not provide coverage for your vehicle directly, it may take care of property compensation if it was taken out of your car. Be aware of your policy limits and the listed perils to know for certain that you are covered for this scenario.

Fire Damage

Fires don’t have to be huge in order to be damaging – a minor kitchen fire that’s quickly put out can leave the surrounding furniture charred and affected appliances unusable. Considerable losses can be caused by something as simple as setting the temperature too high for cooking with oil.

Renters insurance has your back and covers the damages to possessions incurred in an apartment fire.

Leaky Pipes

If you have defective plumbing in your home, or your neighbors upstairs left their water running, and it flooded your space, you’re at risk of significant water damage. Tenants’ insurance will reimburse you for your belongings if they are damaged as a consequence of this peril.

Covering Medical Bills

If another person sustains damages or injuries in your home, you are liable for it. Renters insurance helps to protect yourself from potentially pricey medical bills.

What Renters Insurance Doesn’t Cover

Renters’ insurance often does not cover regular wear and tear, as well as damage or losses that happened prior to the purchase of the insurance or that were caused by factors not listed on the policy (excluded perils). Items broken accidentally will not be reimbursed.

Tenants’ insurance does not kick in for certain natural disasters, such as earthquakes.

If you have valuable items in your home (jewelry, collectibles, expensive gadgets), renters insurance will not suffice to protect them, and more coverage is required.

Your car is not covered by renters insurance. Only your personal belongings inside the vehicle are subject to compensation, not the vehicle itself. In case of an accident, your car being stolen, or sustaining hail damage, for example, losses can only be covered by comprehensive and collision coverage.

Conclusion

In short, renters insurance can protect you from serious losses and expensive replacements, repairs, and medical bills. It’s a very useful policy that can save you from trouble in common life situations. Get a quote and consider purchasing this policy to be confident in the safety of your belongings.