One of the best ways to protect not only yourself as a renter, but your visitors and personal belongings as well is to buy a renter’s insurance policy. In fact, most Orland Park property managers require their tenants to get renter’s insurance before their scheduled move-in day. However, some renters are not familiar with renter’s insurance and do not know what to expect. For example, what does renter’s insurance cover, how much will it usually cost, and are there different options? This article will answer these questions.
What is Renter’s Insurance?
The simplest definition of renter’s insurance is that it is an insurance policy that covers personal liabilities, belongings, and sometimes living expenses in case of injury, damage or loss. These items are the ones not covered under the property owner’s insurance policy. That insurance is for the rental house itself and does not include you or your personal property.
What Does Renter’s Insurance Cover?
Some common types of loss covered by a renter’s insurance policy include theft, fire, and damage or injury due to natural disasters. Depending on the type of policy you buy, yours may also cover things like vandalism, losses due to civil disturbances, and damage caused by malfunctioning systems in your rental homes, such as the plumbing, heating, or air conditioning, and so on. If the extent of the damage is bad enough, your policy could even pay for the cost of alternative housing, meals, and other living expenses while your rental home is being repaired.
But one of the important features of a renter’s insurance policy is that its coverage extends to accidental injuries to other people while visiting your rental home. For instance, one of your visitors injured themselves or experienced damage to their personal property while they were at your rental home, renter’s insurance will cover you in the event of a civil or personal injury lawsuit. In some cases, your insurance may even cover the cost of the legal representation you’ll need to help you defend yourself in court as well as any damages (up to your coverage limit) awarded to the other party.
What’s Required and How Much Does It Cost?
While it is not required by law, many landlords and property owners may require proof of a renter’s insurance policy to lease their home. But even if a renter’s insurance policy is not required, you should still get one. For the valuable protection, they offer, many policies won’t cost you much.
Before you start comparing policies, make sure you know what the required liability limit is. There are some landlords who will define the required liability limits in their lease and require you to have specific endorsements like floods or earthquakes. These endorsements differ between locations and can be optional or required. You must know what you need since every situation and policy will be different.
The cost of your renter’s insurance policy, as well as monthly premiums, will depend on the type of policy and coverage you choose. According to a recent analysis, the national average cost of renter’s insurance was $14 a month. But most renters pay a monthly premium of between $5 and $30. That is a really small price to pay for the kind of protection and peace of mind a renter’s insurance policy will afford you.
Shop Your Options
It is always good to shop around before settling on an insurance company for your renter’s policy. If your car is insured under a big company like State Farm, Allstate, or Progressive, you can easily add on a renter’s insurance policy. But it is still good to get a few quotes, including from newer insurance platforms before you decide. This way, you can be assured that the policy you get is affordable coverage and protection for you, your guests, and your belongings.
If you are an owner looking for someone to take over the day-to-day tasks of your investment property, contact our team of Orland Park property managers for more information. Don’t forget to ask about our FREE rental market analysis.
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