By Sil Anderson

Ask Sil

Usually when we think about insurance, we think of insuring our cars or home. Now even as a renter you can protect your belongings with renters insurance. Protecting property isn't always for homeowners. You may want to have renters insurance to be able to protect your belongings since your landlord's policy will not cover your personal property.

What is covered under renters insurance?

• Fire/Lightning
• Smoke
• Theft
• Sabotage
• Malicious Mischief
• Windstorm
• Sudden accidental water discharge

• Floods
• Freezing of a plumbing system
• Falling objects
• Damage caused by a burst water pipe
• Any civil commotion
• Damage from aircraft and vehicles

1. Liability Protection: This insurance pays for bodily injuries or property damage that you cause to someone else. It may even pay for any legal defense in situations like this.
   
   
2. Medical Protection of your guests: It covers the medical expenses (if required) of those who do not live in the rental property that you have insured but was injured in your apartment.
   
   
3. Raise in living expenses: If you have to live elsewhere due to a loss and your cost of living goes up because of that, your insurance policy will cover such a case up to a certain limit.
   
   
4. Loss of property while traveling: If the airline you are traveling by loses your baggage, some renters insurance covers that too.

What are the things to consider before getting renters insurance?

• The dollar value of coverage: There will be a fixed dollar amount that will be decided on all of your property. The bigger your coverage the higher is the policy amount.
  
  
• Your deductible: This will decide the out-of-pocket money that you will have to pay for your policy. You will have to pay a deductible for everything else except liability insurance.
  
  
• Actual Cash Value (ACV): It is also known as replacement cost. ACV means that the insurance company, when it pays for the loss, pays the actual cash value of the property at the time of loss. However, if you choose replacement cost, you will be entitled to an actual replacement. This means that if any property is damaged, you will be provided with as much amount required to be able to replace it.
  
  
• Location and claim history: If the area you live in is prone to burglary, your policy cost may go up. Similarly, if you or the person who rented the apartment before you or even if the neighbors have had a big amount of claims, the cost of your policy may go up due to this.