Not everyone has tenants or renters insurance, but all renters need it. The price for this coverage is relatively minor too, given that the average policy ranges from $200 – $500 a year. If you bundle a tenants policy with an automobile policy most insurance companies will give you a combined policy discount, that could potentially save you $200 – $500 on your automobile policy, making the tenants policy almost free! Here are a couple scenarios where you might need tenants insurance.
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- Personal Property – You’re out shopping for the day and have acquired a large amount of cloths. You leave your car and all your new purchases for 30 minutes to go into another store. You come back to your car and you are shocked that all of your new purchases are gone. A lot of people think that their car insurance will cover contents in their car – it doesn’t. This is where a homeowner’s or tenants policy comes in – you’re covered!
- Water Loss – You’ve been gone all day at work only to come home to water everywhere in your apartment. One of your appliances leaked water everywhere and has damaged most of the floors. You call the friendly brokers at HMS Insurance and they inform you that you purchased the sewer backup / water escape endorsement – you’re covered!
- Stolen Contents Worldwide – You decide to travel to Britain to watch the Royal Henley Regatta (rowing), and you pack all of your nicest clothing, bags, jewelry – since this is a fancy event. You unpack all of your baggage at a local hotel and head to the race course. After the days events are finished you return to your hotel to find that everything is gone from your room. Luckily your tenants policy covers your contents temporarily away from your home anywhere in the world – you’re covered!
- Fire loss – It’s Tuesday night and it’s your time to cook. You decide to try something new, but things get a little out of control on the stove (no surprise since you burn everything), a fire starts causing damage to the kitchen cabinets. Since the building owner failed to provide a fire extinguisher the damage was quite severe. Not a problem though, your tenants policy will cover that and pay for you to stay in a hotel while the damage is fixed – you’re covered!
- Third Party Injuries – You decide to have a few gym friends over for some post workout protein shakes. One of your friends decides to practice their handstand walks on your deck with no railings – it doesn’t end well. Their injuries are so severe that their only option is to sue you to pay for their medical bills. Tenants insurance will help you cover your legal fees – you’re covered!
- Voluntary Property Damage – You’re borrowing your friends Playstation for the weekend to conquer a new video game instead of doing your school work. Sadly, while you’re out at Starbucks getting your gaming caffeine injection, the Playstation is stolen from your dorm room. Even if your friend doesn’t have tenants insurance, your policy will cover the Playstation as a nice gesture – you’re covered!
When purchasing tenants insurance it’s important to review all of your coverages with your HMS broker, maybe even provide a few scenarios like above to address your concerns. There could be a missing endorsement that you don’t have and actually need. It’s also important to know your deductibles. No matter what coverage level you choose, the moral of the story here is, make sure you have renters insurance! It’s so affordable and can really save you in some unlucky situations. Give us a call or send us an email for a quote.