What is the best renters insurance coverage to protect you when you are renting a home, apartment or another type of rental property? Not all renters insurance policies are created equal, and renters insurance policies are not one-size-fits-all. You will need to do your due diligence when it comes to choosing the best renters insurance coverage to fit your individual needs. Below, you’ll find information to help get you started.
Renters Insurance Definition
You can’t choose the best renters insurance policy for your personal needs if you don’t have a basic understanding of what type of protection is included for tenants. Here’s a basic definition of renters insurance from Investopedia: Renters insurance is “property insurance that provides coverage for a policyholder’s belongings and liability within a rental property. Renters insurance applies to persons renting or subletting a single family home, apartment, duplex, condo, studio, loft or townhome.”
Do You Need Renters Insurance?
The simple answer to this question is “Yes.” While your landlord probably has insurance, typically, this type of insurance policy only provides coverage for the rental property’s structure. A renters insurance policy protects your personal possessions by allowing you to recover their value in case of a fire, theft, lightning, wind or other covered peril. Also, if there is an accident in your rental unit and someone is injured, your renters insurance may help protect you in the case of a liability lawsuit. Remember, the types of perils you are protected from depends on the types of coverage your policy provides.
What Does Renters Insurance Cover?
When choosing the best renters insurance policy to fit your needs, you will need to make sure you choose the right coverage along with the right coverage amounts. Determining what you need can be confusing. If you are unsure of the types and amount of coverage you need, don’t worry. Your insurance agent will walk you through the process of choosing the renters insurance property coverage that offers you the right amount of protection.
Let’s take a quick look the types of coverage you should look for when choosing a renters insurance policy.
- Personal Property Coverage – Coverage for the theft, loss or destruction of your personal belongings in the event of theft, fire, wind or other covered perils. You will need to work with your agent to assign a dollar amount to your belongings. You may also want to ask about extended coverage with higher limits if you have expensive items, including jewelry, antiques, and collectibles in your rental property.
- Liability Coverage – Your standard renters insurance policy should help protect you if you are sued by a guest injured in your home. If you are found responsible for an accident that harms a visitor, your renters insurance liability coverage can help pay for your legal expenses and their medical bills and other damages.
- Additional Living Expenses – What would you do if your rental unit was hit by lightning which caused a fire and made your rental home unlivable? Could you afford to pay for temporary living expenses? If you have the right coverage on your renters insurance policy, you won’t have to worry about this dilemma because your coverage will pay for temporary living expenses such as hotel bills and dining out at restaurants.
- Contents Manipulation – This coverage pays the expense of an individual contracted to move your personal property in the event repairs must be made to your rental home which requires your contents to be physically moved by a professional moving company. This scenario often reveals a gap in coverage between renters insurance and your landlord’s insurance policy. That’s why we recommend you discuss contents manipulation with your insurance agent.
Choosing the Best Renters Insurance Policy
So, how do you decide which renters insurance policy is best for your individual needs? Besides understanding the types of coverage and amount of coverage which offers you the right amount of protection, you also must determine how much you can budget each month to pay for your policy. One positive thing tenants will discover when investigating renters insurance costs is that this type of policy does not cost as much as other forms of insurance. Once you have all the bases covered, your insurance agent will work with you to determine best renters insurance policy to fit your coverage needs and budget.
Remember, all tenants in rental properties should have a renters insurance policy. In fact, some rental leases require proof of insurance by the tenant. That is the case with Red Door Company. When you rent one of our North Carolina rental homes, your lease will require you to have renter’s insurance coverage. For more information on purchasing renter’s insurance, we recommend you read “A Consumer Guide to Renter’s Insurance” provided by the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
If you have any questions about renters insurance requirements when leasing a rental home in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, please do not hesitate to contact us here at Red Door Company. We will also be glad to share recommendations for an insurance agent to help you obtain renters insurance coverage in North Carolina.
