Renters Insurance
The most overlooked type of insurance may be renters insurance. While your landlord almost certainly insures the building you live in, it’s rare that this insurance covers your possessions in the event of a fire, much less if those items are stolen. The other compelling reason to have renters insurance is for liability coverage–it will protect you if someone gets hurt on your property.
To get renters insurance, you should begin by tallying the value of all of your possessions. Add up the value of your sofa, precious jewels, and other sundries. This will help you get the right amount of coverage–why insure your possessions up to $30,000 if you only have $10,000 worth of stuff? You can use the “renters quick estimate” tool below to help you estimate the value of your possessions and to get a competitive quote for prices.
When shopping for renters insurance, look for the cost of a premium “replacement value coverage.” As the name implies, it means that should something happen to your property, you will be reimbursed for the replacement value of each item, rather than its current value which may be much less than what it costs to actually replace. It will cost a little more, but it’s definitely worth it (for even a relatively small amount of property).
Renters Insurance Tools
- Renters Quick Estimate – In minutes, you can get a rough estimate of your yearly renters insurance costs. Then, you can get a full renters quote.
- Rent vs. Own Calculator – Do you know at what point you should stop writing rent checks and start house hunting? Our calculator does.