A few years ago, we rented a 2-story house to a group of individuals. Soon after they moved and settled in there was a plumbing accident in the upstairs bathroom that leaked through the ceiling and the downstairs bedroom got flooded. The roommate’s belongings were destroyed. There wasn’t much on the floor. But he did have one item – an expensive ($7,000) musical instrument – totally destroyed. The owner fixed the leak right away and made the necessary repairs and told the tenant to contact his renters insurance to replace or pay for the instrument. Uh oh… renters insurance? He didn’t have it. You can imagine he was pretty upset.
You see, a landlord is not responsible for damage to personal belongings. A landlord is responsible for making the necessary repairs in a timely fashion. But the renter is responsible for replacing any damaged personal property.
For this reason, insurance companies come to the rescue by offering Renters Insurance: it’s not that expensive, it’s easy to get and you need it. Check out Lemonade for the cheapest and easiest way we’ve found yet.
A landlord can have every possible insurance available but none of his insurance policies will cover your personal belongings. It is your responsibility and we are posting to remind you about it!
Renters insurance will cover losses to your personal property from the following perils:
Fire or lighting
Windstorm or hail
Explosion
Riot or civil commotion
Damage caused by aircraft
Damage caused by vehicles
Smoke
Vandalism or malicious mischief
Theft
Volcanic eruption
Falling objects
Weight of ice, snow or sleet
Accidental discharge or overflow of water or stream from within a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system, or from a household appliance
Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning, or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, an air conditioning or automatic fire-protective system
Freezing of a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system, or of a household appliance
Sudden and accidental damage from artificially generated electrical current (does not include loss to a tube, transistor or similar electronic component)
Earthquakes and floods are not on the list. You’ll need additional coverage for those.
You can contact your insurance broker for quotes. That’s right. And be sure to call around for the best quotes. Alternatively, we’ve done some of the research for you: so kick back, relax, and pour up a glass of Lemonade.
