Renters insurance

[Anonymous]

No one plans on getting robbed, or their rental burning down... But these things do happen. That is what insurance is for.

[barbaralee]

I am in Ohio, so I have Nationwide renters, but have never had to utilize it, thank God. I do have some friends who have had to utilize their Nationwide renters, and did not hear any complaints from them. 

I am seriously considering switching to USAA, though, just because it is so much cheaper. 

[thom02099]

Many years ago when I was a renter, I would usually go with whatever company I had my auto insurance with, as noted by others, for the discount.  Now that I'm a homeowner, I went with a company that provided the discount, but also gave better than average policy details, for both car and home -- Liberty Mutual.  I've been with them for years, have never had a need for a claim, but have always gotten good service whenever I called for questions.  They also will review policies with you, to make sure you have the right coverage for your specific needs.  I'm sure there are probably other insurers who do the same.

You can check the JD Power ratings of various insurance companies here = JD Power Insurance Rankings  Will give you a good overview of what other consumers think of a particular insurance company.

Renter's Insurance is an absolute necessity.  No one ever plans for a catastrophe, but they happen.  Better to be prepared. 

[kjel]

I paid less than $10/mo with State Farm as it was bundled with my car insurance. More and more landlords are requiring tenants to have renters insurance. Pay attention to the loss and liability limits, a $50K/$100K policy is pretty commons but for a couple bucks more you can get a $100K/$300K policy. I had a really shady landlord last two years so I bumped up the coverage. Thankfully I never had to use it. Renters insurance is money well spent in the event that you need it. A significant portion of rather large upscale apartment complex here in North Jersey burned down recently displacing hundreds of people. That complex required tenants to have renters insurance. I'm sure those folks are thankful now.

[Anonymous]

My situation is a tad bit different...

I also pay about $10 for State Farm Renters insurance but I actually OWN my condo. (I was 19 when I bought the condo so I had no idea I got the wrong insurance and that I really should have homeowners)

Anyway, last August my water heater busted overnight and completely flooded my condo and did about $10,000 worth of damage to my downstairs neighbor's condo. There was no permanent damage to my place as by the time my neighbor woke me up to tell me my house was raining on his, I was able to clean up all the water before my pergo floors had a chance to buckle.

When I made the claim with State Farm (for downstairs neighbor's damage) we were all a bit confused as to what they covered since I'm the owner, not a renter bUT have a renters policy. Well, they totally covered me! With the renters policy there is a clause in there that says they will represent me for up to $100,000 liability. They said if I was liable for the damage to his place, they would pay it, minus my deductible.

Turns out, since there was no negligence on my part in regards to the water heater accident I was not liable for his damages. My neighbor ended up suing me and State Farm had an attorney represent my case.

All for $10 a month!

Of course if there was damage to my condo, it would not have been covered through the renters policy but I sure am glad I had liability coverage!!

[kjel]

You got lucky. Hopefully your policy has been converted to a proper homeowner's policy!