I was reading a recent article in Kiplinger’s magazine about insurance and read that renter’s insurance is only $100 to $200 any year. I didn’t know that it was so cheap. I’ve never applied for renter’s insurance, but looks like I can get it from the same provider as my car insurance. Since I only pay about $300 through AAA insurance, I’m thinking about seeing how much extra it would really be.

But the real question is, does it make sense to buy renter’s insurance? I found an article from MSN Money that gives the basics of renter’s insurance. Although my landlord’s insurance may cover losses related to the building itself, there is nothing that covers my personal property. Not, that I have a lot of stuff to insure, but since I’m getting married and starting to buy furniture this might be a good idea. Looks like these are some of the common events the insurance covers me against:
- Fire or lightning
-Windstorm or hail
- Explosion
- Riot or civil commotion
- Aircraft
-Vehicles
-Smoke
-Vandalism or malicious mischief
-Theft
-Damage by glass or safety-glazing material that is part of a building
-Volcanic eruption
-Falling objects
-Weight of ice, snow, or sleet
-Water-related damage from home utilities
-Electrical surge damage

Earthquake and flood seems to be additional insurance you have to buy. There is a significant difference in the type of coverage you can get: “actual cash value” or “replacement cost coverage”. The “actual cash value” type insurance will pay you back only the value at the time an item was damaged/stolen item. So basically this is the depreciated value of the item. The “replacement cost coverage” type insurance reimburses you for the amount you actually had to pay to replace an item. I’d rather have this type of insurance where I can purchase and lost/damaged items and get reimbursed.

Additional benefits of renter’s insurance includes the cost of “additional living expenses” in situations where your apartment becomes unlivable, or “liability” in situations where some gets hurt in your apartment and sues you.

The last thing to consider looks to be the deductible amount. Just like health insurance, I will have options of how high I’m willing to pay in a deductible so that I can reduce my premium.

Well, sounds interesting, so I’ll at least get a quote from AAA and see how much it will cost me.