Should You Purchase Renters’ Insurance?
Last week we got some very bad news: our friends’ home had been burglarized and over $34,000 worth of computer equipment was stolen. Fortunately our friends had renters’ insurance, although that hasn’t made the pain of their loss any easier. One of them is a web developer and IT specialist who works from home. The other is a computer engineering graduate student. While they wait for their insurance company to process their claim, both of them have had to put their lives on hold. But at least they were insured.
Our friends’ loss was a wake up call for my partner and me. We’ve been talking about renters’ insurance for months, but we’ve never done anything about it. This week we’ve gotten busy and started looking into the different policy options. Here’s what we discovered:
Renters’ insurance from Geico is $204 a year for $20,000 coverage with a $250 deductible. The same coverage from Progressive Insurance is $494 a year. State Farm offers $25,000 coverage with a $500 deductible for $210 a year. We haven’t made a final decision about a carrier yet, but we have started to collect the serial numbers for our laptops, TV, and other property items.
One thing we have learned from watching our friends go through the process of finalizing their insurance claim is that you should always keep the receipts and owners’ manuals for your electronic equipment so that you have proof of ownership when you file an insurance claim. I hate owners’ manuals. I think they clutter up my life. But, they obviously serve more than one purpose. I guess I’ll stop thinking of them as useless piles of paper.
I hope that you never have to make use of renters’ insurance. However, take a lesson from my friends’ experience and protect yourself. Because you never know what can happen.
If you have purchased renters’ insurance, do you find that it adds to your peace of mind? What carrier did you choose?
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That’s terrible for your friends. I’ve had renter’s insurance for almost 7 years now- got it when I lived in a group house with a room off the kitchen and roommates who didn’t always remember to turn off the oven! I found that going through the same carrier as my car insurance (State Farm) actually made it effectively free because adding a new policy qualified me for a multiline discount.
Good point, Kim. And BTW – that’s so crazy that your roommates where bad about turning off the oven. Yikes!
Mine’s through USAA. I pay like $250/year for $13,500 in coverage, including earthquake coverage, plus a $5,000 computer rider. Now that I look at it, I may up my coverage. I have a bit more real furniture now than I did when I set it up.
Oh, and there’s some liability coverage in there as well.
I did NOT know about owners’ manuals. Oops! I always threw them out because they’re available digitally now. Well, off to the dumpster…
What do you think is the real probability of being burglarized?
Kim, you’ve had renter’s insurance for 7 years – have you ever been burglarized? If you didn’t have the multi-line discount, do you think it would have been worth it to pay the $200/year?
I haven’t been burglarized, but the policy covers other damages as well such as damages to personal property from a fire or flooding in another apartment and personal liability. I’m one of five friends who moved to this neighborhood 4 years ago- three have been burglarized, and my car has been broken into twice; also there is no gate to my backyard and the fire escape leads up to my glass doors- so yes, I’d consider the possibility of being robbed here high enough to warrant it even without the discount.
I think renters insurance does give peace of mind with at a certain point in life. Once I finished all of my college years, and actually started investing in quality, meaningful household items, I began to acknowledge the possible need and value for renters insurance (after all, we insure our cars because of an associated value/expense; some even insure their pets because of associated value/expense). Accordingly, it wasn’t long and I searched the market and picked-up a policy. I am with Allstate (I get a discount for have an auto and renter’s policy). I pay around $450 a year for $50,000 coverage with a very low deductible. As an added note to the peace of mind value, many renters insurance policies (such as mine) include medical and liability insurance for injuries as well (just an extra bonus).
Thanks for all of the info about your experiences with renters’ insurance, everybody. It’s nice to hear that ya’ll have, indeed, found peace of mind. I think it makes the cost worthwhile.
I agree with lizriz: I use USAA! I have a lot of computer and camera equipment that I can’t afford to lose. I have pretty hefty coverage, and I pay about $15/mo. for it. TOTALLY worth-it for my peace of mind.
I don’t necessarily worry about my apartment getting broken into, but in this day and age of portable computers, I feel like the risks are heightened since I might have expensive electronic equipment with me outside of my home. The same goes for my camera, which I definitely use outside of my apartment. 🙂
If you’re eligible for USAA financial products, take a look at their rates. It’s hard to find better products, and just about impossible to find better customer service. (Yes, I’ve totally been drinking the USAA kool-aid, but hey…I’ve been with them for almost 20 years.)
I learned the hard way with renter’s insurance too. I was smart, but my upstairs neighbors had a fireplace and they started a fire and then went for a walk – seriously, wtf? And all my stuff was smoke and water damaged. My extended family collected a lot of money for me and I didn’t want them to do that again.
I say do it, I got it cheap through geico.