Did you know that if there is a fire and your apartment burns down, your Landlord’s insurance policy on the building will NOT cover the contents of your home. That means you get ZERO reimbursement for all of your lost or damaged possessions like your clothes and shoes, family pictures, jewelry, text books, laptop, etc. The only way to make a claim for your possessions is to have a separate Renter’s Insurance Policy of your own. To learn more about this important safeguard for my clients, I sat down with Rich Adinolfi, a licensed Insurance and Financial Services Agent at TAG Insurance Agency. If you love, love, love your stuff, read what he had to say below and protect yourself in case of an emergency.
Q: What’s is Renter’s Insurance?
A: Renter’s insurance is one of the best values in insurance. When a disaster strikes, Renters Insurance can replace your possessions, both at home AND away from home. It also gives you money for the additional living expenses that occur after a loss.
Q: Can you give an example of “additional living expenses”?
A: Sure. After a loss, you will need to find another place to live. That could be for a night or two, or several weeks if the home was badly damaged. A good Renters policy will pay for you to live somewhere else temporarily. In addition, it will pay for the extra expense of eating out and gas, if you are driving further to and from work.
Q: Are there any other important features?
A: One of THE most important aspects of a Renter Insurance policy is to be sure that you have Replacement Cost coverage. I recently spoke to a client who rents and did not have a policy. I asked her why not? Her answer was that she didn’t have “that much stuff” and assumed she didn’t need it. It was her first apartment, the furniture was old stuff her family replaced in their home recently, same with her pots and pans, dishes and utensils. I explained that even though those thing didn’t cost HER any money, if there was a fire and she needed to replace those things, the Replacement Cost feature would give her enough money to buy those things at todays cost new! So, what was to her, a big bundle of hand-me-downs in her apartment, actually turned out to be several thousands of dollars that she wasn’t protecting. She also neglected that her clothes, shoes, computers, TV, etc… are all protected. After all was said and done, it turned out that she needed about $20,000 of protection.
Q: How much is Renter’s Insurance?
A: It depends on several factors so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. In the example I just gave, a young single adult just starting in her work life and only needed a relatively small amount of protection, her policy cost her about $165 per year. Because she has her Auto insurance with my agency she became eligible for a “MULTI-POLICY DISCOUNT” and ended up saving $170 per year on her Auto insurance. She actually SAVED $5 per year by adding a policy! On the other hand, if you had previously owned a home, or have a family, you will need more coverage and that will cost more. I don’t think I have a client paying more than $40 per month, to give you an idea.
Q: How do you get Renter’s Insurance?
A: Contact a local agent but you want to be sure they are taking the time to ask you questions about your needs. As with any insurance policy, there are no cookie-cutter solutions. Policies should be customizable, not all are and not all agents are willing to spend time to develop are properly designed plan for their clients. That should disturb people as much as it disturbs me. My agency’s philosophy is to be sure that when it comes time to pay your claim, you’ll STILL want to do business with us afterwards. Find an agency like that and you’ll be properly protected.
Rich Adinolfi has been a licensed Insurance and Financial Services agent since 1988.
Sincerely,
Theresa Rose DeGray
Attorney at Law
