|
Renters Insurance
What kind of coverage will renter’s insurance provide?
Living in a rented apartment requires that you have renter’s insurance. You might wonder why you need to take it up and in what way it can be of use to you, since your landlord already has taken a home insurance policy.
One thing about the home insurance taken up by your landlord is that it will not provide you any compensation if you lose your personal belongings because of some unexpected event. You can expect such compensation only from a renter’s insurance.
Renter’s insurance protects you in the following ways:
Coverage for personal contents - Whatever you own in the form of your personal belongings is covered under this insurance. So, if the home you rent is damaged by theft, explosion, riots, fire, lightning, water-related damages from plumbing or an electrical surge, you can be rest assured that you will receive compensation caused by such damage to your personal belongings.
Liability coverage - In the event that someone coming to your home gets injured while on the property and sues you for damages, you are legally obligated to pay them. If you have liability coverage, you get coverage for such legal payments. In other words the insurance company provides compensation for injuries caused by your family members, pets or your belongings to visitors.
Temporary living expenses – These expenses are provided in the event your rented home becomes damaged and you have to live elsewhere till it can be repaired.
The purpose behind the coverage provided by renters insurance is to bring back your life to normalcy after a difficult situation of having to lose your possessions. It can also be of great help in case you face a lawsuit.
The coverage offered by renter’s insurance is provided in two ways, actual cash value and replacement cost. If you take up the actual cash value policy, it pays cash for lost belongings, but minus the depreciation factor. If you want coverage that pays for the cost that you incur to replace your belongings at the current price, you need to take up replacement cost policy. However, the premiums here are a bit on the higher side.
Before taking up your renter’s insurance, you need to read it up carefully because the policy will have its limits on coverage for certain personal belongings such as electronics, expensive jewelry and clothing such as furs. In such situations, you may have to take up additional insurance, called a rider or floater so that you get coverage for the actual worth of such items that you possess.
|
