If you are renting a property your personal property is not covered by the landlord’s homeowners policy. The landlordss policy covers the house and any of their possessions that are in the house. If you are renting and you do not have a homeowners policy in place your possessions are not insured. A renters insurance policy is relatively inexpensive and will not only cover your possessions but can also cover living expenses if there is a fire and you have to move out and it can cover the cost of damage to a neighboring apartment if you are in a building and let’s say the plumbing springs a leak and damages the apartment below you.
A renter’s policy can also include liability insurance so if someone is injured and you are sued court awards and legal expenses could be covered, with a limit. There are exclusions and things that will not be covered such as flooding or hurricanes.
There is also something called replacement coverage vs. actual cash value. With replacement value an item that may have lost value over the years will be replaced and with actual cash value you will receive the amount that item is worth now. If you have items in your home like an expensive camera, art work or anything of greater value then ask if it is covered there are many items that will need a rider.
Allstate has an app where you can create an inventory, “Digital Locker”. It is a good idea to take pictures and keep receipts for items you have purchased in a safe place off the premises. Scanning receipts to your computer and then storing in the cloud is a good idea so that they will always be available. If there is a fire and you keep the receipts on your computer you may have a problem.
For flood coverage, you need a separate policy issued by the National Flood Insurance Program.
A free tool to go room by room and determine how much insurance you might need, Know Your Stuff.
