Why Do I Need Renter’s Insurance?
Whether you’ve been renting for years, or you are new to renting, your belongings could be damaged or destroyed at a moment’s notice due to fire, natural disaster or theft. Thankfully, renter’s insurance insures your belongings and gives valuable peace of mind. No matter if you are leasing a house, duplex, condo, or apartment; renter’s insurance is a necessity. As a tenant, you remain legally responsible for your personal property and certain liabilities during a disaster or theft. Therefore, your landlord only holds responsibility for the physical rental property itself under their insurance policy. Not convinced you need renter’s insurance? Read on, as our independent insurance experts at Kirby Soar Insurance provide a few reasons why you need to purchase renter’s insurance.
The Majority Of Renters Are Not Insured
A poll taken by ORC International showed that only 41 percent of renters had renter’s insurance. Meanwhile, the number of people renting is at an all-time high, at about 43 million, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. By comparison, 95 percent of homeowners carried insurance coverage for their property.
Reasons Renters Think They Do Not Need Renter’s Insurance
- They assume their landlord’s policy covers their belongings
- Under informed or lack sufficient knowledge of insurance laws
- Feel their belongings are not valuable enough to warrant an insurance policy.
- Say insurance is too expensive.
While these reasons explain why tenants choose not to purchase renter’s insurance they are not solid excuses to forgo a renter’s insurance policy. Lack of knowledge about renter’s insurance does not release a person’s accountability should a disaster or theft occur.
The Truth About Renter’s Insurance
Like any insurance policy, just because you have not encountered a previous need for it doesn’t mean that you won’t need it in the future. Your Central Florida independent insurance agents at Kirby Soar Insurance encourage you to view renter’s insurance as an inexpensive form of loss prevention.
People underestimate the value of their belongings. If you add up the value of just your clothing and electronics, it probably wouldn’t take long to get into the thousands of dollars. Moreover, as mentioned above, if someone else is injured on the property you’re renting—a friend, relative, neighbor, even the pizza delivery person—they could file suit against you.
Now let’s look at some of the facts about renter’s insurance policies:
- Cost – Price is usually a big deciding factor for most of us on what purchases to make. Renter’s insurance is cheaper than you might think. You might get coverage for less than $30 per month.
- Personal Property Loss – Once you add up the value of your clothes, electronics, furniture, kitchenware, appliances, and any of your other possessions, you’ll realize that it would cost a lot to replace all of those items. Without renter’s insurance, you would be personally responsible for all of those replacement costs if you were the victim of a fire, natural disaster, or theft.
- Required? — It is becoming increasingly popular for landlords to require residents to have renter’s insurance. Whether it is the landlord’s idea or the landlord’s insurance company is mandating it, you’ll still need liability coverage to continue renting from that landlord.
- Other Protection – You’ve just been the victim of an accident that left your rental property uninhabitable. As long as it is one of the perils covered on your policy, you’ll have a place to stay. Many rental insurance policies cover additional living expenses.
Renter’s Insurance in Florida
Like any other type of insurance, you want to find the best coverage that suits your needs, at the lowest price. The professionals at Kirby Soar Insurance help you achieve this goal. Our staff has decades worth of combined experience in the insurance profession. As an independent insurance company we work with multiple coverage providers to find you the best rates in Polk and Hillsborough county. Schedule a consultation with one of our experts by calling us at (813) 752-1680.
We’re proud to serve the insurance needs of our clients in Plant City, Valrico, Lakeland, Brandon, and throughout central Florida.
