How to Protect Yourself as a Renter Through Rental Insurance and Common Sense

Most renters aren’t aware of the benefits of having rental insurance or how it helps to protect themselves. Most of them don’t consider rental insurance as their priority, as it’s nothing but an extra cost in their eyes. Renters are mostly focused on arranging their move and finding the right place. While they’re thinking about settling in, they forget about the insurance.

Well, renting a home isn’t like buying a home. Most landlords won’t require their tenants to buy rental insurance as homeowners do.

The truth is, your rental insurance protects you up to a certain degree, and all you need is some common sense to realize how this type of insurance actually benefits you.

On top of all that, rental insurance is pretty affordable even for those who rent apartments, so giving some thought to buying rental insurance might do you more good than harm. We’ll go through a few reasons as to why you should buy rental insurance and how it protects you as a rentee.

The too good to be true apartments

If an apartment deal looks too good to be true, it’s probably because it is. Any deal like this should be thoroughly questioned because you don’t want to end up spending tons of cash for nothing. Your first step should be doing research throughout the market to determine how much houses and apartments are renting for.

This will give you a good perception into what a good deal is because people will try to offer deals that are simply too good to be true.

That’s how you know that something’s fishy. If your rental is significantly below the market, that’s a clear no go. Take the necessary steps in such situations, such as:

• Insist on inspecting the property yourself – cheapness or too-good-to-be-true deals have their own reasons. The property could be in horrible condition and so on.
• Do your research about your landlord – discover if they have been sued by tenants or declared bankruptcy.
• Insist on transparency with your landlord – feel free to ask if they’re facing foreclosure. If a landlord avoids giving an answer, seems nervous or evasive when answering, something is wrong.

This is all important because basic rental insurance mostly doesn’t cover the building you live in or rent an apartment in. It only protects your belongings, so you don’t want to end up paying for other people’s property.

You need renters insurance regardless

Renters insurance is important for you as a rentee simply because it protects your liability and personal belongings when you rent a condo, apartment or home.

This type of insurance was meant to protect people who rent where they live and it was based on the total value of the belongings people want to insure.

It’s also possible to get some added coverage like additional living expenses and liability insurance. The basic coverage is:

• Your personal belongings or contents at home
• Your personal belongings away from home
• Personal liability
• Medical bills
• Additional living expenses (in case your insured home is unlivable, your basic coverage pays for the actual loss of finding a place to live while going through repairs)

Remember, rental insurance is a safety net for you and your stuff, so it’s better to go with it than without it.

Keep your budget in mind

While you need to keep your budget in mind at all times, it’s good to know that renters’ insurance is crazy cheap. It’s way cheaper than any other type of coverage.

Weather damage, theft, fires, and so on simply happen. So, if you’re renting a home, it’s better to have all your personal belongings safe and protected.

On the other hand, if something happens in your rented home and someone gets injured, you’re personal liability will also be covered, as well as any medical payments. The most basic starter rental insurance costs around 15-20$ a month. This is practically nothing when compared to what you actually get for it.

If your things get stolen or if someone is holding you responsible for property damage or personal injury or if you have to find a new place to live due to an accident, all these things require lots of money.

Your renters’ insurance has you covered in all these situations.

It’s not just the apartment, it’s the neighborhood

When you’re renting a new place to live, there are a lot of things involved. One of those things is the neighborhood. You don’t want to end up in a rented condo surrounded by factories or a train station. Checking your neighborhood for safety should be on top of your priority list. This is also where your renters’ insurance kicks in.

If you left your laptop in your car during the night and it gets stolen, your renters’ insurance covers for it. It also makes sure that you’re protected in case your landlord didn’t install all the necessary safety devices such as window locks or deadbolts.

Malfunctioning security systems, burned-out lightbulbs, broken windows, these are opportunities for someone to get hurt, including yourself.

On top of all that, renting a condo in a building where criminals reside isn’t a smart thing to do. In case an accident happens, you’ll want to be insured. If you need additional information on the matter, more tips can be found here.

Transportation and commutes

Most people who rent apartments aren’t even aware of how renters insurance protects them when they travel. For people who travel a lot, renting a place is more convenient.

It’s common sense to do everything to make sure you have full coverage along the way. This can help you save money on other travel costs, as well as baggage insurance costs.

Obviously, when you travel, you have to rent hotel rooms and so on. Well, if any damage occurs to the property, you’ll be held responsible. Then, you can lose things or someone can steal your things while you travel. Renters’ insurance has you covered in such situations.

Think things through before signing anything

Before you sign anything, make sure that you carefully review every condition stated in your policy. Your rental agreement may contain some terms that you find unacceptable, so you don’t want to find out about these things when you’ve already signed on the dotted line. Good examples are running a home business or design alterations, pets or guests.

Conclusion

Renting an apartment isn’t an easy thing to do and moving is almost always a stressful situation. However, use common sense and think about things getting worse. If you’re in the middle of moving and your things get damaged or stolen, it’s better to be insured and avoid any further damage.

Additionally, you don’t want to make any mistakes that might lead you to bankruptcy. Learn more about mistakes when renting an apartment like explained in this article.

Then, you have sneaky landlords and other tenants who will try and do everything they can to squeeze you in for an extra buck. All these reasons should be quite enough for you to make an educated decision and see why you need renters’ insurance in your life.