Renters Insurance

Renters insurance is different from homeowners insurance. Renters insurance does not cover the physical building like a home insurance policy does. This type of insurance also does not cover other roommates that may be living with you in your home or apartment. In order to cover other roommates, they would need to be listed on your policy. In general, each roommate should have their own renters insurance policy.  So what does renters insurance cover?  Here is a list of the main things that tenant’s insurance covers:

Personal Property – Renters insurance covers your personal property against certain perils (i.e. fire, smoke damage, water leaks, theft, and more) up to the policy limits. For example, if there is a fire in the apartment and your policy limit is $15,000 dollars, then your personal belongings would be covered up to this limit. If you own more than $15,000 dollars in personal property, anything over this limit would not be covered. So, it is always a good idea to take inventory of what you own and estimate how much coverage is needed to replace your personal property.

Loss of Use – Loss of use renters insurance coverage pays for additional living expenses if your home or apartment is no longer livable due to a covered peril. This coverage could help pay for temporary housing like a hotel room or another rental. Loss of use can also help with additional fees incurred like extra fuel costs, additional food expenses, moving expenses and more. Loss of use covers for damages up to the policy limits in your tenants insurance policy.

Personal Liability –  Renters insurance is often needed when signing a leasing agreement. The reason for this is that many landlords want to know that you have personal liability insurance protection. Personal liability insurance will help to pay for damages if you are found legally responsible for injuries to other people or cause damage to their property. So in other words, this coverage helps avoid paying money out of your own pocket if somebody decides to sue you for damages. 

Liability insurance on your policy can also provide coverage outside of your residence.  An example would be if someone sues you because your dog you have covered on your policy bites somebody while walking through your neighborhood. Liability insurance does not cover everything. However, it does provide a wide variety of protection including liability protection for most pets.  Similar to other coverages, limits apply to the dollar amount your personal liability insurance will pay for and certain policy exclusions. 

Medical Insurance – Under certain situations, this coverage can provide coverage for other people’s medical-related expenses if they get hurt in your residence. This coverage allows you to quickly handle smaller injury claims without regard to fault. 

Optional Coverages – Renters insurance does not cover everything and each insurance company will have their own policy exclusions. However, you can customize your policy with optional coverages. For example, you can add replacement cost coverage versus having actual cash value coverage on your personal property. You can also schedule extra coverage on valuable property like an expensive diamond ring. Many companies even offer optional coverage to protect your identity online with identity theft coverage. Talk to one of our insurance agents to help design additional coverages on your renters insurance policy.