What should I be concerned about when buying renter's insurance?

Question

My new apartment building in Houston is mandating I buy 50,000 worth of renter's insurance prior to letting me sign a lease. What factors should I be on the lookout for when shopping around?

Answer 1

1. cost of coverage
2. reputation of company you are buying insurance from
3. limits of coverage (the $50,000 is just for your liability coverage) including personal property coverage.

Answer 2

$50,000 is a lot for one person, unless it's a luxury building or you own a lot of expensive stuff, but not totally unreasonable.

Here are the categories that can affect the annual cost of your renter's insurance:

Personal Property: usually about $25,00 covers damage to apartment or belongings if damaged by listed disaster.

Loss of Use: usually is the "fair rental value" of the property or $5000-10000. Pays for temporary needs (shelter, rental car, meals, etc) while apartment/belongings are being repaired/replaced.

Personal Liabilty: usually $100,000 or $300,000 (preferred). If you, a family member, or pet cause bodily injury or property damage to others, this covers court fees and lawsuits.

Medical Payments to Others: anywhere from $500-5000. If someone is hurt while in your home, they can submit medical bills to your renter's insurance company.

Additional Policies: you can also get additional "riders" to cover damage for specific items (like jewelry) or specific hazards (flood or earthquake).

Replacement Cost vs Actual Cash Value: Very important to always insist on Replacement Cost, even if it costs a little more. Example: if your couch cost you $500 when you bought it, but over the years depreciated to about $100, a policy with "replacement cost" will pay you $500 to replace the couch, but a policy with "actual cash value" will pay you $100 for it.

I recently priced my renter's insurance, and by far the best deal for the same coverage was through AAA (American Automobile Association). A great deal for members! Among private companies, State Farm and Allstate were the next expensive, and Geico/Traveler's was teh most expensive.

Answer 3

Renters insurance is pretty standard on what is covered. The only thing you really need to think about is the amount of insurance that you want and do you want any special riders for jewlery and other limited coverage items.pp

Answer 4

using indisputable fact that your no longer interested in masking the somewhat shape, then it somewhat doesnt be counted what variety of roof or locks you have. the fee of your coverage would be desperate on the quantity of contents and legal duty you prefer to be insured for. maximum residence homes, in the event that they are outfitted in basic terms before 1980's are in lots of situations asphalt shingle/composition roofs. in the event that they are outfitted after that, then they are able to additionally be spanish tile. Youll understand if its tile, using fact it has a brown/orange colour, and asphalt shingle in the event that they are like squares or flat wiht a grey/black or brown colour. in basic terms say which you do have deadbolt locks on your door.