I
live in a College Dorm, why do I need Renter's Insurance?
When you live in a
College Dorm Room or in a Frat style house, you
should have a Renter's Insurance policy. A policy may cover
your personal belongings such as a stereo, computer and other
items. It may also cover you in the case someone is injured. |
Why
Renters insurance ?
Renter's
Insurance
policies
are designed to indemnify (cover your loss) you in the event of a
covered loss to your personal property and protect you in the
event you are responsible for bodily injury or property damage to
others. It is available for apartments, rented house, condo,
co-ops, dormitories, and roommate arrangements. |
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Suppose
you have visitors to your apartment and someone slips on a wet
kitchen floor and breaks an arm? Who is responsible for the
medical costs? In most circumstances you are.
Renter's insurance in general provides "named peril"
coverage, meaning the policy states specifically what you are
insured against. Some named perils include Fire or Lightning,
Smoke, Vandalism or Malicious Mischief, Theft, Accidental
Discharge of Water and 10 or more others. Your agent will
detail these for you. |
| Liability
coverage also includes Medical Payments coverage, which
applies to nonresidents of the insured premises. This
coverage pays for the actual medical expenses incurred up to the
limit for a non-resident guest. |
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Always
read the contract for specific explanations of coverage and
exclusions.
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Renter's
Insurance Costs
You
might think you don't need Renter's
Insurance
if you rent, but think again! Add up the cost of your furniture,
your electronic equipment, your CD collection, computer, garments
and other personal property. Can you afford to replace everything
in the event of a fire or burglary?
Renter's
Insurance
is relatively inexpensive. The average cost of renter's insurance
is approximately $10 a month for around $25,000 worth of property
coverage and $100,000 worth of liability coverage. |
| Renter's
Insurance
may cover: repair or replacement of your personal
property damaged, destroyed or stolen as the result of various
types of peril -- fire or lightning, windstorm or hail,
explosions, smoke, vandalism, theft, damage by glass, electrical
surge damage, and water-related damage from home utilities, and
more. If your home is made unlivable by one of these perils, Renters
insurance will pay for the associated expenses (cost of a
temporary residence, meals eaten out, etc.). Coverage is
usually limited to a percent of the total value of the policy. |
|
Claims
Actual cash value or Replacement cost coverage.
Although you will pay about 15 percent more for it, you're usually
better off with replacement cost coverage, which pays for
what it actually costs to replace the items you lost. Actual cash
value, on the other hand, pays only for what your property was
worth at the time it was damaged or stolen. |
|
Typically
you can lower your cost even further
by getting a policy with roommates, increasing your deductible or
having multiple policies with the same carrier (Renters
insurance and auto
insurance, for example). It's certainly cheaper than replacing
all your possessions.
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| Renter's
insurance provides the security of knowing that if you
lost everything today, you wouldn't be forced to start from
scratch. Renter's insurance
can
even cover you for personal possessions that don't happen to be in
the apartment at the time of the loss. If that friendly tour guide
in Milan happens to find his way back to your hotel and makes off
with a suitcase full of your stuff, you don't have to just suffer
the loss - in some policies. |
| My
Landlord is Responsible for my stuff, right? |
|
Of
course, you can always count on part of your landlord's policy,
right? Well, not quite. Many renters are under the
impression that their landlord's policy covers their belongings as
well. Unfortunately that's
not
the case, and they often don't find that out until the worst
possible time, after a disaster or a robbery. Your
landlord's policy doesn't cover anything that's yours. The
only exception to this would be if the loss was caused by
negligence on the part of your landlord, and then you would still
have to prove it in court. That is where Renter's
insurance comes in.
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| You'll
also have the unbiased information you need, like how a company
rates in the business world, so you can feel safe with your
decision. Click
here for the quick, free, Renter's Insurance Application or
finish reading our guide. |
| You
can also visit one of these leading insurance companies: |
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|
Rentlaw.com
- The National Landlord Tenant Guide
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