If you have renters insurance and your apartment is destroyed?

Question

would you get money for what your stuff is worth now or the cost to replace it. If you don't have pictures how do you prove what you have, or how much you would get?

Answer 1

Well, whether you get ANYTHING depends on what happened to destroy the apartment - flood is NOT covered, earthquake is RARELY covered. So, question #1, is the "damage" a covered cause of loss.

How much you get - well, it depends. Did you buy the extra "replacement cost" endorsement? If not, you don't get the cost to replace, you get the depreciated value.

How do you prove what you had? Well, you'll have scrap left from the destruction. A spray painted sofa is still a sofa. You save the scraps. You save the ashes, you save the water logged whatever. YOU have to provide the adjuster with the inventory list - from memory, if you don't have any other way to do it.

I recommend taking a camcorder and just recording a tour - opening closets and cabinets. Close up on the serial number for high end stuff, if you like. Then you store the video off site, or give a copy to your agent to store for you, or digitize it, and store it online somewhere, so if you do have a loss, THEN you make up your inventory list from what you see in the video. Plus, it's really easy to update that, once a year.

Answer 2

Most of the answers here are about right. I have been an agent and I am now an adjuster. The other post was right , if you have actual cash value, run don't walk out of that agent's office. No one should be issuing ACV policies these days.

You do want to make an inventory and don't throw out anything no matter how torn up it is.

Things of significant value, you may want to have appraisals or some other proof and keep elsewhere, like a safety deposit box so you can back up that you actually owned it.

Check your deductibles , too. Make sure it's reasonable for you.

Also,don't make unnecessary claims. Especially if you intend to buy a house in the next couple of years. Multiple claims mean a high risk to an insurer and you will have a hard time getting coverage. And when you do the premium will be very high.

Answer 3

depends on how your policy was written in the first place. some policy writers will only cover your belongings for what they are worth now, some underwriters will state replacement costs (which usually means you pay more per month on your renters insurance). check with your insurance company to verify what coverage you have. as far as not having pictures to prove what you actually had.......well, that will also have to be hashed out with your insurance company. again, most insurance companies will insure you UP TO a certain amount and if you are claiming that you had a 60 inch plasma, 15 computers, 5 Rolex watches, and $100K in loose diamonds then you'll find yourself in jail before you get a penny. just a word of caution......don't try and claim items that you didn't own! it's dishonest and against the law

Answer 4

if you wrote your policy to include replacement cost then it would replace your property in todays market. if it is written on actual cash value then you get depreciated value. if it was written actual cash value, FIND A NEW AGENT! Most companies realize that people do not take a picture of items everytime they buy something and work with the people on the list of items they owned. try to keep track of your property. i tell people to get a video camera and just walk through the home opening drawers and closets and get a quick overview of what they own. when disaster strikes most people cannot accuratley remember every item they owned, so its for your protection as well. keep the tape in a safety deposit box so if the home burns it is not destoyed.

Answer 5

Renters insurance policies will only give you the depreciated value of what you had in there, otherwise, there is too much opportunity for fraud. Without pictures, receipts are acceptable proof of items. If you don't have receipts, and you bought the item relatively recently, you can always return to the store, give them the card you made the purchase on and ask for a duplicate receipt. If you bought it on the net, you can e-mail the copy and ask them to re-send the sales confirmation in e-mail. Or, if you paid by check, call your bank to get a copy of the canceled check, to prove what you paid for the item and when. If you paid by cash (and honestly, who does, for big ticket items?) then you are likely out of luck. You are paid the depreciated value of your items up to the amount your policy covers.

Answer 6

Depends on what type of policy you have. If you purchased the endorsement for replacement cost or not. It also depends on what the damaged item is.