When most people think about buying home insurance, the first thing that comes to mind is a homeowner’s policy. The problem with this is that homeowner’s insurance also covers the building. What if you rent an apartment, and only want to insure the contents of your apartment? If this is the case, renter’s insurance is where you would need to look.
Because renters need to protect only the contents of their apartments rather than the building and land, only getting home content insurance through a renter’s insurance policy is the way to go. These policies can protect you from any items lost or stolen, such as a laptop, furniture, jewelry or a large movie or CD collection.
In some cases, the protection of home content insurance can go beyond just what is lost while it is in your apartment. A good example of this is if you wear a piece of jewelry out, such as your wedding ring, and it is lost while you are out, your contents insurance may still cover the loss. It is very important to know the details of your policy.
Renter’s insurance may also cover more than just the contents of your home. There are some companies that will provide liability and relocation assistance. This can be very crucial if a friend or family member is injured while in your home.
Also, if the building you live in is damaged in some way, such as a fire, relocation assistance can help you locate temporary housing while the repairs are being made or until you find another home. Relocation assistance usually only allows a tenant to stay in a motel or temporary apartment for a set period of time.
Home content insurance policies work on the total sum of the items being insured. This means that when you are filling out the paperwork, you will need to give a detailed breakdown of the items you want to insure.
You will need to be careful however because many home content insurance companies have a threshold amount and you may have to declare items over this amount as separate items that may not be allowable in the home content insurance policy.
When adding items to your policy, remember that items with “sentimental” value have no value when it comes down to insuring them. The premiums calculated will need to be determined by the actual cash amount of replacing that particular item.
It is always a good idea to catalog every item in your home and keep it in a safe place. Being detailed in this list: including date the item was purchased and the amount, will only make it easier if you need to file a claim with your home content insurance.