Why Renters Insurance is Often Required

When you rent an apartment or even a single-family home, the property owner may require renters insurance. This is additional money on top of what you already pay for rent. Why is this being required of you? Is there any benefit to you? Understanding this will make it easier for you to get the policy, and know that it is the right move for you financially.

What Renters Insurance Provides

Renters insurance provides you with coverage on various things that can happen to everything within your rental property. The property owner maintains insurance on the building, but this doesn’t account for any of your belongings because you are not the property owner.

If your rental property is broken into, you would be covered against anything that is damaged or stolen. If your rental property experiences any kind of damage, such as a fire or flood from another unit, your furnishings and various other items could be damaged. Again, your rental insurance would cover these things.

Why It's Often Required

Many property owners require renters insurance, and this is for your benefit more than anything else. Property owners know it can be heartbreaking when something happens. Many people make the assumption that the insurance the property owners pay takes care of everything. It doesn’t. By requiring renters insurance, it is a way of identifying the fact that the property owner isn’t going to cover any damages to your personal property.

Property owners want you to be happy. If you experience a break-in, or something happens because of another unit, they want you to continue living there. However, if you don’t have insurance and everything is ruin, you are likely going to move out – and they have to find another tenant. The simple solution is to require renters insurance so that you can file a claim, get the financial assistance you need, replace your items, and continue living at the same rental property.

How to Get a Good Policy

You may have a lot of questions when it comes to renters insurance. Rather than simply choosing the first renters policy that you find, it pays to work with an independent insurance agent. Your property owner may even make recommendations as to what kind of coverage you should have. The agent can then get quotes from multiple companies so that you can decide who has the best coverage at the best premium.

Once you have renters insurance, the property owner may require a copy of it. This is simply to confirm that you have the coverage that they have required. It can also act as a secondary measure in the event that you lose your policy. You can always contact the property owner in the event that you need to file a claim because of something that has happened inside your rental property.