How Much Apartment Renters Insurance Do You Need?

When you want to protect your own possessions within a rental property in the event of fire, theft or natural disasters, you should look into apartment renters insurance coverage for renters. While some landlords require renters to carry some kind of insurance coverage for renters before signing a lease, it is generally not mandatory to have before renting. Investigate what it takes to get renters insurance, including how much coverage you need.

Look at What You Have: The dollar amount of renters insurance coverage will be different for everyone because each person or household has a varying amount of possessions. The total value of your belongings may surprise you. While most people are quick to include their expensive electronics, jewelry, computers and appliances on a list of possessions, don't forget about less obvious personal items as well. Items such as books, paintings, sports equipment and furniture would all be costly to replace should something happen to them.

Inventory Your Possessions: Determine how much apartment renter's insurance you need by conducting a personal inventory. Go to each room in your home with a notebook, and make a list of each possession. Write down approximately when you got the item, how much you paid for it and what the current value might be. After completing each room, total up the amount: This gives you an idea of what your personal possessions are worth.

Many apartment renters insurance experts recommend taking pictures of each room from several angles as well. Keep the list and photos together in a safe deposit box or other location that is not in your home just in case you need to submit a claim to your apartment renter's insurance agency.

Find Out How the Company Determines Value: Keep in mind that there are two different methods insurance companies use to assess value of property. One way is to assess the items based on the replacement costs. That means the total coverage amount should be what it would cost to replace the lost items. The other way to figure out a coverage amount is by the items' cash value. This is what each item is worth now.

Be sure to ask the insurance company which method will be used because the coverage amounts can be quite different. For example, your laptop may have cost you $800 to buy, but it is several years old and is now worth about $250. If something happened to it under a replacement policy, you would get back the amount it would cost you to buy a new laptop of equal value (likely around $800 to $1000). The cash value policy would provide you with only $250 to replace the computer.