Get the facts on renter’s insurance in Florida.
If you are renting an apartment, condominium, or home in Florida, you should have the facts on renter’s insurance. You may be curious to know if you are legally required to purchase renter’s insurance. In short, no state in the U.S., mandates renter’s insurance, including Florida. However, certain rental agreements require insurance as part of the rental agreement. In this article, your independent insurance experts at Kirby Soar Insurance inform you about renter’s insurance: what it covers, what it doesn’t, why you need it, and how we can help you find the best policy for you.
What is renter’s insurance and how does it work?
Unlike homeowner’s insurance, which covers your property as well as your belongings in the event of a break-in or damage from a natural disaster; renter’s insurance covers only your personal belongings if one of the aforementioned events happens to your rented home.
Depending on the policy you choose, renter’s insurance may cover any of the following:
- Replacing damaged or destroyed belongings, including furniture, computers, televisions, clothing, and more.
- Liability coverage, by paying the medical bills if someone who does not live at your home gets injured. Not all renter’s insurance policies have this option, so if this is important to you, be sure to ask your independent insurance agent to find a plan that offers this coverage.
- Living expenses, if you are forced to relocate after an incident because your rented home is uninhabitable. This could include restitution for temporary housing such as a hotel stay or another apartment, or even repaying you for the cost of food if you are not able to cook meals in your home.
What You Should Know About Renter’s Insurance in Florida
Renters Insurance Can Make Your Life Easier After An Accident – A standard rental agreement does not cover loss of, or damage to personal property. That means your landlord is not responsible for your belongings or relocation costs if your apartment, duplex or home is impacted by a natural disaster, fire or burglarized.
ARV and ACV – Not all rental policies are created equal, especially when it comes time to settle a claim. Policies that payout on actual cost value (ACV), reimburse policyholders based on their item’s replacement costs’ before the damage or loss occurred. This is rarely means the policyholder will recoup full price for the item. For example, you have a computer with an expected lifespan of 10 years. If the computer was destroyed five years after you bought it, your insurance will pay you half of the replacement amount. Policies that payout based on actual replacement value will cut policyholders a check for the total cost to replace the item at its original cost. In reference to our above example, you would receive a check that would cover the cost of purchasing a brand new computer
There Are Policy Limits – Certain items will receive limited payouts with a standard renter’s insurance policy. These include cash, jewels, guns, antiques, and works of art.
Policies cover “named perils” – By that, we mean damage from fire, lightning, windstorms, hail, smoke, explosions, vandalism, theft, other forms of malicious mischief, and/or falling objects.
Kirby Soar Insurance Provides Renter’s Insurance in Central Florida
Protect yourself and your personal belongings by obtaining a renter’s insurance policy through Kirby Soar Insurance. As an independent agency, we have the flexibility to work with a wide array of different insurers, compare quotes, and find the ideal coverage for your needs and budget. To find out more, contact us online or call (813) 752-1680.
Kirby Soar Insurance is proud to serve our clients in Central Florida including Polk, Hillsborough and Orange Counties.
