I got into the insurance game young. I was 21 when I started my journey into insurance. I was renting an apartment, most of my friends were in apartments, and most of my social circle were in apartments. After a year, a lot of us had "graduated" to a rental house or better apartments. A few years later, we were all in houses. Something I always made sure to have, and something I made sure my circle friends got (hopefully from me) was renters insurance.
Renter's insurance is something that a lot of people forget about. You get an apartment or rental home and you think, "If something happens, it's my landlord's problem!" but the problem is, it isn't. When you rent a space, the space falls under your control. Your landlord probably also has a hold harmless agreement so that you can't even turn around and sue your landlord even if it is something they caused! So getting renter's insurance is a big deal!
So, if renter's insurance is a big deal, what exactly is it?
Renter's insurance will cover your personal property (your stuff) and your liability (the stuff someone would sue you for). It is in the same family as homeowners insurance and condo insurance, but there's no coverage for the physical property in which you reside. Some companies will let you add on physical property coverage, like if you need to insure the garage that you get with your rental as an example, but most rentals will not require it. And the nice thing about renter's insurance is it is generally pretty inexpensive!
I've rented a few times in my life (and this is true for most renters) when I was young, when I moved to a new city, and when I moved to a large city where homes were EXPENSIVE!
They may have been different times in my life, but the renter's insurance was able to follow me around. That's the other nice thing about renter's insurance, as long as it is in the same state, you don't have to start a new policy when you move. Not having to start a new policy is nice, you just call the next day and give the insurance company you're new address and you're done!
Because renter's insurance is covering your stuff, you need to have a bit of a handle on how much your stuff is valued at. If you're like I was, young with a bed, couch, tv, and some clothes, you can probably get away with the minimum amount (normally between $10,000-$20,000 depending on the company), or if you're more established you'll cover things like a dining room suite, fine china, better furniture, etc and look at higher amounts.
Most insurance companies will offer replacement cost, but not all, so you want to make sure you tell the agent you want replacement cost on your contents. Replacement cost means they replace the contents for replacement value, not depreciated value.
The other big question we run into with renters insurance is roommates. If you and a roommate are both renting, do both of you need renter's insurance?
The basic answer is yes, but the easiest way to do that is both of your names be on the policy. So, if you are going into a rental situation together, put all the roommates names on the policy. If someone moves out, just have their name taken off the policy. But, you do have to take everyone's items into the total of the personal property amount.
Hopefully, this answered a few questions on renter's insurance, possibly even some you didn't know you had. And remember, we can give you renters quote quickly through several different carriers in any state, just if you want a quote, just click here.