Renters Insurance

A few years ago I rented a 2 story house to a group of individuals. Soon after they moved and settled in there was a plumbing accident in the upstairs bathroom and the downstairs bedroom got flooded. The roommate's belongings were destroyed. There wasn't much on the floor. But he did have one item - an expensive ($7,000) musical instrument - totally destroyed. The owner fixed the leak right away and made the necessary repairs and told the tenant to contact his renters insurance to replace or pay for the instrument. Uh oh... renters insurance? He didn't have it. You can imagine he was pretty upset. 

I hope he doesn't mind me using his story as an example why all renters should get renters insurance. It's not that expensive, it's easy to get and you need it. A landlord can have every possible insurance available for owners but none of them will cover renters personal belongings. It is your responsibility and I'm posting to remind you about it!

Renters insurance will cover losses to your personal property from the following perils:

Fire or lighting

Windstorm or hail

Explosian

Riot or civil commotion

Damage caused by aircraft

Damage caused by vehicles

Smoke

Vandalism or malicious mischief

Theft

Volcanic eruption

Falling objects

Weight of ice, snow or sleet

Accidental discharge or overflow of water or stream from within a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system, or from a household appliance 

Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning, or bulging of a stream or hot water heating system, an air conditioning or automatic fire-protective system

Freezing of a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system, or of a household appliance

Sudden and accidental damage from artificially generated electrical current (does not include loss to a tube, transistor or similar electronic component)

Earthquakes and floods are not on the list. You'll need additional coverage for those. 

You can contact any insurance broker for quotes. Triple A, state farm, etc.