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By Dennis Volz
Editor’s note: My daughter found out the hard way why having renter’s insurance would have been a good idea. When thieves stole her car, car insurance only covered damage to the vehicle—not replacing the IPOD, leather jacket, text books and other items that were taken,too. So we’ve asked insurance agent Dennis Volz to provide some tips on what renters should know about insurance.
April 1, 2009 (Spring Valley)--If you rent, it’s a wise idea to have renter’s insurance. Four out of ten renters don't think they can afford renter’s insurance. Two out of ten don't even know renters insurance is available. The simple truth is that if you rent, you need and can likely afford renter’s insurance.
Usually for $20-$25 per month you can protect your personal property in your home, in your car, and anywhere in the world. Eighteen percent of renters mistakenly believe that they don't have enough personal property to warrant renter’s insurance. The average renter would need over $20,000 to replace the contents of their apartment or house. Remember that's your entire wardrobe, computer, dishes, blender, microwave, camera, cell phone, iPod, sports gear, TV, CD's, books, furniture, and the list goes on.
You see, here’s the problem with all that STUFF. You bought it just a little at a time -- A CD here, a blender there, a couple of jackets somewhere else. Then, before you know it, you have a house full of stuff. And consider that you purchased many of those items on sale, or on CraigsList, or they were given to you by friends or family. When you have a devastating loss like a fire, you have to go out and just replace everything NOW! You don't have the luxury of just acquiring it over time.
Renter’s insurance protects your stuff ANYWHERE IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE. Doesn’t matter if you’re in the good old US of A, Mexico, China or Australia… If your stuff is stolen from your car, IT’S COVERED!!! There might be damage to your car though. That’s covered under your auto insurance.
Only get policies with REPLACEMENT COST coverage. If you suffer loss to your stuff, and you replace it, replacement cost policies will pay you what it costs to get a brand new one rather than what your old one was worth. It looks like this: Someone steals your 8 year old TV set that’s worth $75 and a new one (just like it) is $350, a replacement cost policy will pay you based on the $350 rather than the $75!
Also included in your Renters insurance is liability coverage that protects you in case of a liability loss: Your dog bites someone or a friend slips and breaks their arm in your bathroom. You also get what’s called LOSS OF USE or ADDITIONAL LIVING EXPENSES coverage. Whenever your place is rendered UNINHABITABLE because of a covered loss, we’ll pay the cost to put you up someplace else while your place is being repaired. I’ve actually written checks to people sitting outside their burned residence to pay for a hotel. It even pays if you're required to evacuate but there's no subsequent damage.
There are dozens of other coverages included in renter’s insurance, but not enough space here to mention all of them. Just one more... If someone steals your checks or credit cards and you suffer loss because they’re out there spending YOUR MONEY, you’ll have coverage for that up to $1000.
This is so simple and easy to do. Over the phone; less than 15 minutes, you're DONE!
So, here’s a little review…
• Coverage for your stuff: TV, stereo, blender, dishes, clothes, etc.
• Coverage at REPLACEMENT COST (as I explained above)
• Liability Protection. (assets AND your future earnings)
• A place to live while we put your place back together
Yep, you guessed it… All for about the price of a DVD a month. No insurance product offers you more BANG FOR YOUR BUCK than RENTER’S INSURANCE.
Dennis Volz is an insurance agent for a large national insurance company and the author of The San Diego Insurance Blog. He has served the East County area since 1978. Contact Dennis and his team at 619-670-1000 (24 hours a day), email at Dennis@DennisVolzInsurance.com or on the web at www.DennisVolzInsurance.com.
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