Renters don’t tend to think about what would happen to them if they had a flood, a fire or some other issue with their home that caused damage to their possessions. The home owner has insurance that protects the home itself, but who replaces your belongings? If you do not have contents insurance the answer is no one!
You might feel like you don’t have enough stuff to bother with insurance. What happens if there is a fire and you cannot live in the property? Your landlord isn’t responsible for finding a place for you to stay. What if a litigious friend falls on your steps? I’m sure you’d lose some sleep over that if you were not insured. Now you can see why insurance is a big deal?
Insurance costs are based on a number of things: How much you’d like to have set as your deductable, the coverage dollar amount, the number of previous claims at the address, where the home is located and a few others.
Actual cash value and replacement cost also factor in. choosing actual cash value means that anything that needs to be replaced will be given a dollar amount based on what they are worth at that point in time. A 10 year old tv is obviously not worth what a 2 month old TV is worth. So the amount of money you get for each would vary.
Replacement cost is a little different. If you chose this you would get the money need to replace the damaged item. The items have to have similar features so you can’t expect to afford a 50 inch LCD if your 10 inch TV is stolen!
Another thing to think about when deciding on insurance is anything of unusual value. An expensive watch, ring, collection of sports memorabilia or something of the sort would not be covered unless specifically outlined in the insurance.
When comparing insurance prices make sure to call around. You can often get a discount if you go with the company you already have another policy with.
Remember, its not the law (in most areas at least) to have rental/contents insurance. Talk to an insurance broker if you have any additional questions.
Courtice, Ontario, Courtice, Ontario