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Renter's Insurance: Your Frontline Against Disaster

Friday, April 10, 2009
Flood, fire and break-in don’t just happen to home owners’; catastrophe can strike renters as well.

(Washington, DC) Flood, fire and break-in don’t just happen to home owners’; catastrophe can strike renters as well. Renter’s insurance is the best investment you can make to protect your valuables and recover your losses.

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There is an old saying that “good things happen on purpose, bad things happen by themselves.”  When it comes to protecting your personal belongings and valuables you will certainly need to take steps to insure that any disaster is not a total loss. Buying renter’s insurance can be a sure and inexpensive tool that will help you recover losses in case of an emergency.

 

When you purchase renter’s insurance there are some things that you will need to consider that will help make your decision a little easier.

 

Deductible – How much of a deductible (money out of pocket before insurance kicks in) are you willing to pay. As with all insurance the size of the deductible affects the size of your monthly payment, coverage and terms.

 

Amount of Coverage – This is not determined by the value of each individual piece of property, but one amount for all of your possessions. Typically the larger the coverage, the larger your premium or monthly payment becomes.

 

ACV (Actual Cash Value) or Replacement Cost- When you purchase a policy you need to look at your possessions and decide do you want items replaced at the Actual Cash Value; which is what the item is worth at the time the claim is made or the Replacement Cost; which reimburses you for what it would cost to replace the item at the time of the claim.  If you have a DVD player that is three years old and you are reimbursed at the “Actual Cash Value” then you may only receive 60 percent of your original costs. Reimbursement at “Replacement Cost” means that you will receive a claim check for a DVD player that is comparable to the one you loss.  Deciding what feature you chose in your policy will also affect the amount of your monthly premium as well.

 

Inventory – One thing that can help you recover your losses and streamline the claim process is to inventory all of your insured items. This means doing things like writing down the make, model and serial numbers of the items covered and if you have a video or digital camera, photographing them as well. Once this inventory is done, putting the list in a secure place such as a safety deposit box or fireproof safe insures that it does not fall victim to the same disasters as your belongings. When the time comes to make a claim, you can submit an accurate inventory for the items loss to the insurance company.

 

Most major insurance companies carry some form of renter’s insurance. Start your search with the company that you already have your auto or health insurance with. Often times insurance companies offer bundled rates to existing clients.

 

For more information you can visit the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a voluntary organization of the chief insurance regulatory officials of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five US territories. The NAIC serves the needs of consumers and the industry, with an overriding objective of supporting state insurance regulators as they protect consumers and maintain the financial stability of the insurance marketplace. For more consumer information, visit insureUonline.org.