Renters insurance is something every renter should have and often don’t realize they need. Many people rent business properties, homes, and apartments, rather than buying to alleviate the worries of having to pay and take care of property maintenance and owners insurance. What they often don’t realize though is that the landlord’s insurance doesn’t cover their personal property for in the event of a burglary,natural disaster, or even an injury such as a fall down the stairs or a guest getting dog bit..
Determining how much renters insurance you need can require some time, research, and consistency. However, knowing exactly how much renter’s insurance you need, can save you a lot of headaches in the end. When buying renter’s insurance the last thing you should do is guess at how much you need. By guessing you can under insure your personal property and in the end it may be very costly, perhaps detrimental. Most policies cover a base amount which does not include high price items such as antiques, heirlooms, and art work. For these items you may purchase an additional writer to be added to these policy. Some antiques and heirlooms may never be able to be replaced in the terms of centimental value, but the monetary amounts can be replaced.
When determining how much renters insurance you need, you should fist make a list of your personal property. This list will not only aid you in acquiring a proper policy, but it will also be a guide. You list should be compiled into groups, perhaps starting with your most expensive and treasure property. For example, you may want to start with your vehicles and items such as boats, ATV’s, 4-wheelers ect. Then you should have your jewelry, appliances, art, furniture, clothing, and electronic items such as televisions, games systems, computers, and stereos.
The best way to not under insure yourself is to do a walk through of your rental property and make a list of items as you see them. Make sure to list all items, even clothing. In the event of a natural disaster such as a hurricane, having your clothing insured may mean the difference between paying the insurance deductible or replacing your clothing and even bedding. A new wardobe can even be expensive when it has to be replaced entirely.
Once you have a complete list of all items then you should catorigize them according to what they are such as electronics, appliances, furniture and so forth. Once you have a complete list, then you should list their cost and value next to each. These amounts should be the actual cost you paid for the items and the actual cost it would be to replace them today. You can note these amounts as AC (Actual Cost), and ARC (Actual Replacement Cost). Then when you go to get your policy you can determine which is the better way to go in regards to inflation and depreciation amounts. In addition, you need to add to the policy for personal injuries for guest, incase of falls or animal attacks.