As someone who rents apartments, you might not realize the importance of insurance until it’s too late. But this policy can protect you in the event that your belongings are damaged or stolen.
It also covers liability should someone get hurt on your property, which is something that this policy is liable for by law.
Because this policy is so important, here are some things you should know and Where To Get Renters Insurance.
Why It’s Called Renters Insurance?
Let’s start with why it’s called renters insurance. It protects your belongings for a few reasons:
1. Covers Damage To The Property
If you cause a fire or flood in your rental unit, renters insurance can protect your landlord from having to pay for the damages you’ve inflicted
on their building.
2. Covers loss of your belongings
If your policy is written correctly, it should cover the cost to replace any possessions that were damaged or stolen while they
were stored in your rental unit.
3. Covers legal fees and other expenses
Don’t think tenant just protects renters from having to pay for their own losses. It can protect tenants legally as well.
It covers legal bills for things like lawsuits that renters might be faced with because of accidents or injuries that happen on the tenant’s property.
If you’re renting, insuring is essential to protecting yourself and your landlord from any financial hardships that come up due to
situations in your rental unit. this policy is inexpensive, so it’s best to get it as soon as you sign your rental contract.
Think of the losses tenants have experienced without this kind of policy. No one wants to go through that again!
If you’re renting, insurance is an absolute necessity.
Without this type of policy, all tenants are liable for any accidents or injuries that happen on their property.
This policy can protect tenants legally as well, with expenses for lawsuits or medical bills that renters might be faced with due to
accidents or injuries that happen at their rental unit.
It is inexpensive, but it’s worth getting insurance as soon as you sign your rental contract.
Having insurance can help renters after losing anything in their rental unit due to fire, flood, or theft. insurance can
also help renters legally in the event that they get sued for any accidents or injuries that happen on the renters property after renting a home.
How Much Does It Cost
Another question you may be asking yourself is how much this policy actually costs.
What it all comes down to is what you want coverage for and where you live.
Most renter’s policies cover your things if they are damaged because of something like a fire or burst pipe, but other policies won’t cover
belongings if they were stolen by someone else.
Every city has different laws regarding this type of policy, so do research on your own city’s ordinances regarding insurance before getting one!
If you don’t know where to start, renters.com has a list of insurance costs by state so you have an idea of what this policy may cost!
How To Get Renters Insurance
Now that you know what insurance is and how much it costs, you should take the next step in getting this policy for yourself.
To do this follow these steps:
1. Get quotes:
One of the first things any renter should probably do is compare insurance prices online. This way renters are able to find out if they can get insurance cheaper elsewhere or not.
Most companies won’t charge more than $150 per month for basic coverage, but there are some policies that could be higher depending on certain factors such as where you live and how many belongings you want coverage for.
2. Organize your belongings:
The next step is to go through and make a list of everything you own, like furniture and electronics.
Renters insurance companies will do this for you for free if tenants send renters companies pictures or records of their belongings.
This way tenants don’t have to remember the value of every single thing they own and renters can be sure that their estimate has no errors in it!
Some people even choose to take videos instead because movies tend to capture memories more accurately than photos ever could.
Whatever tenants choose, organizing belongings will help tenants save time when it’s time to file a claim later on down the line!
3. Purchase insurance:
Once you’ve gathered quotes from multiple companies and figured out what kind of policy fits into your budget, tenants can then purchase this policy.
This is pretty straightforward when companies has all the information renters need to make sure tenants get the most for their money when it’s time to buy the policy.
What Renters Should Not Do
Now that you know what insurance is and how much it costs, renters should never do these things:
1. Don’t procrastinate:
Time is of the essence when purchasing this policy. Tenants who wait too long could miss out on good deals because companies only offer rates for limited amounts of time.
Don’t be late making this important decision or you might end up paying more than necessary for your policy!
2. Don’t believe scam artists:
There are fake “renters insurance” ads online. renters’ insurance scammers are hoping to get tenants’ password information so they can steal tenant identities or money!
Tenants should always be skeptical when dealing with online vendors.
If renters notice their quote is way too low to be true, renters should ignore the ad and do some research on their own before giving renters’ information away.
3. Don’t buy insurance from an unlicensed company:
Of course, it’s not worth your time to purchase a policy from a company that doesn’t even have a license in most states!
Licensed insurance companies will already know how much coverage they can offer you without needing to ask you specifically what kind of policy tenants want.
Renters need to make sure their company has all the proper licensing before actually purchasing anything because otherwise, they risk scams and renters having their information stolen on top of tenants paying more for insurance than tenants should!
4. Don’t assume that renters insurance covers floods:
Unfortunately, this policy doesn’t cover tenants against flooding unless tenants specifically purchase flood coverage.
Most basic policy tenants buy will say ” named perils” on it. That means basic policy protects against specific causes like fire, theft, or vandalism.
To make sure your possessions are safe from natural disasters such as floods, you’ll need to look for a “named peril” policy that covers those types of disasters too.
Bonus Tips:
Get quotes from several different companies – Just because one company offers a low price doesn’t mean you can’t get the same price elsewhere.
