You don’t have to own your own home to be able to carry insurance on your personal belongings. If you rent your home, you can purchase a policy called renters insurance. This insurance policy offers protection if your rented property is damaged or destroyed by covered perils.
Unlike homeowners insurance, which covers your home inside and out, renter insurance only covers your personal property inside the home or other dwellings. Your landlord or property owner provides the insurance on the actual dwelling, garage or other buildings. It’s all the things inside the property that rental insurance policies cover.
Your rental policy will provide money to replace any of your personal belongings that were destroyed, damaged or stolen. If the damage is severe enough that you have to live elsewhere while it’s being repaired, your policy will pay your living expenses while you stay elsewhere. Some policies may even pay for your food while you live elsewhere.
When you purchase your policy, you can choose a payment options. If you choose replacement value, they will pay you what it actually costs you to replace the items. If you choose actual cash value, the insurance company will pay what the items are actually worth. In addition to paying a premium, which may be monthly, quarterly or annually, you’ll have to pay a deductible.
Renters insurance also provides you with liability insurance. Liability insurance protects you if someone who is injured on your property decides to sue you and may also help with legal expenses. The renter insurance will also help pay medical expenses for guests who were injured in your home or on your property.
We often think we don’t own many personal belongings or don’t have things of much value. It isn’t until we lose everything that we realize not just how much we actually had but also how expensive it is to replace it all. This is why it’s so beneficial and necessary to carry renter insurance. Losing your belongings is bad enough, but not not having the funds to replace them would be catastrophic.