Renters insurance from ABC Dennis Insurance in Lutz, FloridaRenters insurance is a necessity for every renter, whether renting a house, a room in a house, an apartment, loft, or any location you call home. If there is a fire or other disaster, your landlord’s insurance does not cover your personal property. Insuring your personal property, such as furniture, clothing, and electronics is your responsibility.

What Does Renters Insurance Cover?

Renters insurance covers you against losses from fire and smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm, and certain types of water damage.

Renters insurance typically includes three main elements:

  • Personal property protection for covered personal possessions (such as furniture and clothing).
  • Liability protection should someone be injured in an accident associated with the property.
  • Loss of use in case your home becomes uninhabitable due to a covered loss. You may be provided with money to pay for temporary housing.

Keep in mind that certain types of personal property are only covered up to a limit set by the insurance company. So, if you have property valued above the policy’s maximum, you should consider additional coverage.

Renters insurance often includes a “content insurance policy” that covers (with some exceptions) items that you keep in your car, provided that the vehicle is registered in your name and at your address. If someone breaks into your car while you’re at home or traveling, you may be reimbursed for the theft of covered items.

Unlike homeowners insurance, a renters policy does not cover the building or structure of the apartment. Also, renters insurance does not cover floods.

Finally, your landlord may require you to carry a renters insurance policy. The landlord’s insurance only covers the building, grounds, and certain liability elements. The landlord’s insurance does not protect your personal property.

What Should You Know About Renters Insurance?

Renters insurance typically has a deductible. The deductible is the amount of money you are responsible for covering after a loss before your insurance begins to pay. For example, if you have a $500 deductible and a fire destroys $5,000 worth of your furniture, the first $500 is your responsibility. The insurance company will then pay the remaining $4,500.

How Much Renters Insurance Should You Have?

Deciding how much renters insurance you need can be challenging, but here are a few tips:

  • Liability: Many landlords require their tenants to have at least $100,000 in liability coverage.
  • Personal property: The best way to make sure you have enough insurance for your personal property is to determine how much it would cost to replace all of your personal possessions in the event of a covered disaster. The Insurance Information Institute has some simple steps for making a detailed list of all of your belongings along with their estimated value. The average person has over $20,000 worth of personal belongings.

It’s also helpful to take photos or a video of your most important belongings, which will give you a record of everything while also helping you calculate the worth of your possessions.

ABC Dennis Insurance Agency

ABC Dennis Insurance is an independent insurance agency established in 1997 that provides renters insurance for individuals and families.

As an independent agency, we find the best coverage with the most competitive rates among multiple insurance companies. This is important because no insurance company can meet every insurance need. So, we shop multiple insurance carriers to find the coverage that best fits our customers’ every need.