What Apartment Insurance DOESN’T Cover

Renters Insurance Basics

Apartment (or renter’s) insurance is insurance designed to protect you and your belongings from the four walls (that you don’t own) inward. If your landlord is smart, they have their own insurance policy that will reimburse them for damage caused by the tennants that damages their structure, or protects them from liability in the event of an injury or accident on their property that results in a medical claim or lawsuit. You should not rely on any policy carried by your landlord to protect you or your belongings while you are within your apartment.

In order to protect what is yours, you should have a quality renter’s insurance policy that covers your personal effects such as your:

• Computers & electronic equipment
• Furniture
• Musical and sporting equipment
• Jewelry
• major appliances

Renter’s insurance will not only pay for the repair of items that are damaged in your apartment, but also pay to replace any items that are stolen or vandalized by outside sources. Keep in mind however, that the policies are not completely exhaustive. They may cover many situations you are likely to encounter…

But There May be Exceptions

Renter’s insurance provides a comprehensive level of protection for your personals from fire or lightning, smoke damage, wind, vandalism, theft or an accidental discharge of water such as from a sink left running too long, but there are some things that can happen in your home that you may not be protected from with the standard policy.

• Flood Damage - It comes as a surprise to many people (unfortunately, usually after the fact), that standard homeowner’s and renter’s insurance policies do not provide coverage in the event of a natural flood such as from overflowing rivers, heavy rains or the occasional tsunami. So if your hot-water heater breaks and floods your apartment - you’re covered, but if you live near the Red River and it overruns its banks and floods your living room…you’re out of luck. You can imagine the number of surprised and outraged insured there were in New Orleans and Mississippi after Katrina did her damage.
• Extensive Liability - Under most circumstances, if someone were to trip and fall in your living room, for example, your renter’s insurance policy will provide coverage for their medical expenses, but is your typical $25,000 policy going to be enough to cover the damage? Perhaps…but what if that person files a suit against you? No help there.

You can get protection for floods by speaking with your insurer to get it added to your policy either as a rider or purchased separately. The coverage is not very expensive and can save you a great deal of money. Insurance against flood damage is in a different category than most standard policies, and unless you take special effort to ask for it when signing up for your policy, you shouldn’t expect protection if the creek rises.

For extra liability protection, you will also want to speak with your insurance agent about a personal liability insurance policy or an umbrella policy if you are a homeowner.