Insurance Thread (condo/home/rental)

Tenant's insurance - is it worth it?

Who has tenant's insurance? Nobody I know. Yet everybody tells me to get some - its like a knee jerk reaction when we watch the CNN coverage of the hurricanes - but the truth is those guys probably arent even covered for that!

If you are a renter and you have a policy, I'd like to know why ??? and do you feel like you are getting ripped off?

Hardly anyone has tenant's insurance, which is different than homeowners insurance and that's because the deductible is usually $1000 which is often more than most individual home furnishings in a rented apartment are worth and they don't cover a lot of things - read the fine print.

At over $300+ bucks a year + 1K deductible, how much value / risk is it really worth? I just hope my apartment doesn't burn down at Christmas time, and I end up on the news and there's a Facebook page for me...

I used to sell home insurance for TD... now I am out of that game the only advice I have is...

GET IT AS OF YESTERDAY.

You are crazy NOT to have it. You're not just paying to protect your valuables, you're protecting yourself against liability as well. What if someone hurt themselves visiting your property and they sued you for medical expenses and lost wages? Wouldn't you like the piece of mind that you don't have to pay your legal fee's or damages unless they exceed the standard $1,000,000 policy limit (not going to happen).

On top of that, if you shop around you can usually get it for well under $300 (with a $300 or $500 deductable) for $30,000+ of contents.

You also can opt-in for sewer backup coverage which can be a huge lifesaver in the event that a backup happens.

Oh yeah...

Did I mention the additional living expenses? If you're displaced (due to fire, contamination, water damage etc) while your place is being repaired it will pay for any additional living costs you have above and beyond your normal living costs.

All for under $25/month... not to mention any discounts it may get you on auto insurance if you have it.

The only real con is that if you don't have a claim, you just made a small donation to the insurance company who will use that money to cover their overhead, payout any claims and invest whatever is left for profit...

It's not a scam, it's a fantastic product at an affordable price and every single person in this country should be covered.

/rant

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the whole getting robbed thing it tends to cover...

I have tenant's insurance, because I was required to have it under my lease. Mine costs less than $300 per year though, it is closer to $180. I'm not sure of the details of my policy, and I am not a lawyer, but I think my tenants insurance also covers personal liability up to a million dollars. For example if someone gets injured in your apartment and sues you, or if you were found liable for accidentally burning the building down or something. But your landlord also should have insurance for the building itself.

I'm just barely out of school and don't own many things, but I know I certainly have more than $1000 worth of stuff that I would like replaced if I was ever robbed or if there was a fire or flood.

What about on the flip side ... do landlords here tell insurance companies the property is a rental property, or just tell them its their primary residence? I believe it's a lot more expensive if you tell them it's a tennanted property.

i got it cuz I got a lot of weed & shit, worth payin 20$ month to cover a few ounces @ any given time

C'mon, for $300 a year? Why wouldn't you have it? Why would you carry a $1,000 deductible? Most people's are lower than that.

Do you have any idea what it would cost to just replace your clothes, or Cds?

Get the insurance, video tape your entire apartment including the contents of your drawers and cupboards, then give the tape to a trusted friend for safe keeping. That will save a lot of hassles if your adjustor gives you a hard time on the claim.

Arob said:

Who has tenant's insurance? Nobody I know. Yet everybody tells me to get some - its like a knee jerk reaction when we watch the CNN coverage of the hurricanes - but the truth is those guys probably arent even covered for that!

If you are a renter and you have a policy, I'd like to know why ??? and do you feel like you are getting ripped off?

Hardly anyone has tenant's insurance, which is different than homeowners insurance and that's because the deductible is usually $1000 which is often more than most individual home furnishings in a rented apartment are worth and they don't cover a lot of things - read the fine print.

At over $300+ bucks a year + 1K deductible, how much value / risk is it really worth? I just hope my apartment doesn't burn down at Christmas time, and I end up on the news and there's a Facebook page for me...

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Deductibles can be set lower than $1,000. Tenants insurance usually includes liability coverage as well - to cover your liability as a tenant.

If people add up of the replacement value of their clothing, bedding, furniture, television, computer and other items, they typically discover that they would have a hard time replacing it all if it was lost.

Some landlords have noted that their building insurance would drop if they could show that all tenants carried their own policy. There is nothing that requires a tenant to do so.

Having been robbed twice while renting, insurance has come in quite handy.

I was glad of it when I rented in the '80s and someone went through our building one day breaking into apartments and stealing stuff.

I've been on my own for about 20 years. Nothing has ever happened. No break ins, no one suing me, no disasters. But over 20 years that's only a savings of about 4 grand. Not a whole lot for peace of mind.

I just never get it because I consider the places I'm in fairly safe from break ins / flooding / etc. Next place we live I will probably get it because of liability since we will get maid service and probably a dog walker. I guess the added benefit is if they steal stuff you're insured.

ps. VERY IMPORTANT. You must photograph and catalog all your items. It is almost certainly stipulated in your contract that you must prove you owned the items. You will be in for a massive headache if you don't.

It is almost certainly stipulated in your contract that you must prove you owned the items.

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Umm...

No. It's not.

It's a very good idea to take pictures of your place, but it's not necessary. The most important thing you can do is remember to list EVERYTHING in your police report, if it's not there the adjuster can probably get away with not paying it. There is however NOTHING that requires you to prove what you had, try reading your policy sometime, you'll be surprised.

What if a "Sunrise Propane" occurs next door? What about if another "Queen Street West" or "20 Secord Avenue" fire occurs in your building? The insurance will help you with temporary housing or help replace your contents.

The building owner should have insurance to cover the building structure, but that insurance does not cover your valuables or your living expenses. You have to have your own insurance to cover that, since they don't know that you own a $10,000 comic book or had a Da Vinci hanging in your living room or you bought your fur coat from Goodwill.

wonderboy416 said:

Umm...

No. It's not.

It's a very good idea to take pictures of your place, but it's not necessary. The most important thing you can do is remember to list EVERYTHING in your police report, if it's not there the adjuster can probably get away with not paying it. There is however NOTHING that requires you to prove what you had, try reading your policy sometime, you'll be surprised.

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I think in some contracts it recommends that you have that or reciepts. A list will not suffice. A work colleague went through this and had to have reciepts for all items claimed or he wouldn't be reimbursed.

It is pretty much necessary since you want to have all the weapons you can at your disposal to force the insurance company to pay out with the least amount of hassle.

So yes. At least some contracts require you to prove you owned what you say you owned.

So yes. At least some contracts require you to prove you owned what you say you owned.

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Again I'll say it... NO.

Not any homeowners/condo/renters insurance contracts, FSCO wouldn't allow it. I've worked in insurance 6 hears and taken the property CIP courses, I don't claim to be an expert but I do know nowhere in your homeowners insurance will it say this except for scheduled items (ie. jewellery etc).

Tenant insurance on an apartment or condo is ridiculously cheap, like $15 or $20 per month. All it takes is for something stupid to happen one time: a hose to pop off your dishwasher, say, or a frayed wire you never noticed on a heater, and it could cause a flood or fire that damages the units below or beside you. That could add up very quickly; in that type of situation, a $1000 deductable would seem like a perfectly good deal. That's why I have the insurance: frankly I doubt I would even bother to use it if someone stole my TV or my clock radio or my circa-1999 CD collection.

w.ll.am said:

I think in some contracts it recommends that you have that or reciepts. A list will not suffice. A work colleague went through this and had to have reciepts for all items claimed or he wouldn't be reimbursed.

It is pretty much necessary since you want to have all the weapons you can at your disposal to force the insurance company to pay out with the least amount of hassle.

So yes. At least some contracts require you to prove you owned what you say you owned.

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I was broken into (at the time we figured it was the super's son who just got out of jail!) about 10 years ago. All they took was several hundred Cds, some watches - mostly easily saleable items, probably for crack. The adjustor was very reasonable. We estimated the # of Cds in all the empty Cd towers, I gave him a list after reviewing several catalogs which they then tried to fill, but eventually my ex and I had a huge credit at HMV downtown. We went on a shopping spree, which was kind of fun.
Perhaps because the settlement was only 10 grand or so, they were very reasonable and helpful. It probably helped that my neighbors upstairs were 'broken into' at the same time.

Still, as I said before, a video tape of everything is helpful. How many people either know how many Cds they have or what the titles are, just to name one example? As fun as shopping for Cds may sound, it was kind of stressful trying to replace several hundred in a short period of time.

In a fire or explosion, it would be very stressful to try and list even for yourself, all the contents.