Renters Insurance

While it might be nice to consider buying a home, there are numerous situations in which renting just makes more sense. Even if you rent a house, apartment, condo, or duplex, it is now your home and is filled with the personal possessions that matter to you. Renters insurance allows those who rent or lease a home to protect their valuable possessions and protect themselves in case of damage to the property.

A renters insurance policy will protect the things you love if the unexpected occurs. Storm damage, fire, wind, rain, and snow are all capable of causing severe damage to a property, as well as everything in it. Your landlord’s property policy will not pay to replace your valuables – only the property itself or any of their structures are covered. If your home is burglarized, without renters insurance, you will be left paying to replace what you lost. Furniture, electronics, and other personal possessions are expensive to replace. That’s when your renters insurance can save you thousands. Not only can you protect against the risk of lost or damaged possessions, but you can also insure special items such as collectibles, jewelry, and art, as well as provide protection against credit card theft. If you own expensive digital technology, you want to know it can be replaced with another item of equal quality. Your renters insurance will also include liability in case you were to cause damage to your rental. If you caused a kitchen fire or created damage to the walls, your landlord could hold you responsible. The property damage coverage on your renters insurance would be useful in these scenarios.

What if your rental home is damaged and you are forced to find accommodations? Renters insurance policies can be customized to cover those costs. What if another person is injured while visiting your home? Guest medical protection could not be more important to your future financial health.

At Frank D. Spicer Insurance Agency in Fairfax, Virginia, we work with our local community to provide a wide range of insurances, including renters insurance. This type of insurance is extremely affordable and can save you a bundle when something unexpected goes wrong. Call us today to find out more!

Renters Insurance Q&A’s….

What does renters insurance cover?

The short answer is – a lot! Below are a few of the important coverages that renters insurance provides…

A). Coverage for your personal property – i.e. furniture, clothing, electronics, kitchenware, etc. Most of the “stuff” in your apartment or home would be covered by a renters insurance policy.

B). Personal liability coverage – In the event that you are sued for an alleged act of negligence, a renters insurance policy will pay for your legal defense as well as any judgment awarded against you – up to the policy limit.

Example: You leave a pot on the stove and it catches your apartment on fire. The fire damages your apartment and several neighboring apartments. The apartment complex could hold you liable for the damage. In this case, your renters insurance policy would pay to defend you and (if found negligent) would pay up to the policy limit for the damages.

Is renters insurance really “free” in some cases?

Yes, and here is how it works – Erie Insurance gives a very nice “multi-policy” discount for clients that have their auto & homeowners (renters) insurance policies together with Erie. This discount can actually “pay for” the entire cost of the renters insurance policy. A typical renters insurance policy in VA is roughly $150 annually. The multi-policy discount that Erie gives on their auto insurance policies is usually about $150 (sometimes much higher). In many cases, it’s actually less expensive for someone to have an auto & renters insurance policy than it is for them to just have a single auto insurance policy!

What is the average cost of a renters insurance policy?

In Virginia, the cost of an average renters insurance policy is about $150. The cost of a renters insurance policy largely depends on the following variables….

A). Where the person resides.

B). How much personal property the person has.

C). Level of personal liability coverage the person desires (can range from 100k to 1 mill).

D). Deductible chosen.

E). Discounts that may apply – i.e. auto insurance discount, umbrella policy discount, etc.

I don’t own a lot of “stuff” – do I really need renters insurance?

Yes – even people who do not own a lot of “stuff” still need the important “personal liability” protection that renters policies provide.

Example: Your skiing with a group of friends and you lose control and slam into another skier. The other skier is seriously injured and must be air-lifted out. Four surgeries and three months later the injured person is still not fully recovered and cannot return to work. The injured person files a lawsuit against you for negligently causing serious injury to them. The “but I don’t have much stuff” defense won’t get you very far. Without a renters insurance policy you’re on your own to pay for what could easily be several million dollars of damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain & suffering, etc).

I heard that having a renters insurance policy can help me when I go to buy a home – is this true?

Yes – besides the valuable protection it provides, a renters insurance policy with Erie Insurance can help lower the cost of homeowners insurance when you buy your first (or next) home. Erie Insurance gives (longevity) discounts the longer someone is insured with them. By having a renters insurance policy with Erie before you purchase your first home, you can “start the clock” and begin accruing these nice discounts.

I’m a landlord – should my tenants carry their own renters insurance?

Yes. Many landlords now require tenants to carry renters insurance policies – and for good reason. Suppose you’re a landlord and you have tenants residing in your home. Your tenants start a fire and cause significant damage to your home – without a renters insurance policy, how are you going to collect from them? Many tenants do not have several hundred thousand dollars just sitting around. If your tenants are uninsured, this burden could fall onto you.

Additionally, if an injury (or worse) occurs on your property, a renters insurance policy can help protect the liability interest of both the tenant and the landlord. By adding a simple endorsement to the tenant’s renters insurance policy the landlord can be afforded valuable protection – sometimes at no additional cost!

I have an expensive piece of jewelry – will renters insurance cover it?

Renters insurance policies typically provide some coverage for jewelry. With Erie Insurance, their renters insurance policy covers jewelry up to $3,000. This 3k amount is significantly higher than what most of Erie’s competitors provide. If you have a piece of jewelry that exceeds $3,000 it can (and should) be scheduled onto a renters or homeowners insurance policy. By scheduling the item you are insuring that the full value of the item is covered. Scheduling a piece of jewelry can also eliminate the deductible that would otherwise apply.

My apartment was just damaged by a fire and I need to find another place to live – can my Renters Insurance policy help?

Yes. If an Erie Insured suffers a loss to his/her property and the residence is uninhabitable, Erie will pay all reasonable additional living expenses while the original home is being repaired. “Additional living expenses” could include a number of items, one of which is the cost to rent another comparable place while the original home is being repaired.