Protect family and belongings, even if you rent

A particularly brutal winter left many homeowners with costly home repairs,but some renters also may have learned a brutal lesson about the risk to their own belongings if they lacked renters' insurance.

Many renters may not realize they need to buy additional insurance beyond what their landlord's insurance covers. If there is a fire, for example, your landlord's insurance covers just the structure and will not pay to replace your furniture, clothes and electronics.

Renters' insurance costs $10 to $15 per month on average, but just 45 percent of all Washington renters have renters' insurance, according to the NW Insurance Council, a nonprofit trade group. Ninety-six percent of homeowners, however, have homeowners' insurance, said Darrin Sanger, council spokesman.

Renters' insurance typically includes:

• Personal items like clothes, furniture, jewelry, electronics and artwork.

• Responsibility to people injured in your home or elsewhere by you, a family member or your pet.

• Legal defense if you are taken to court.

Resources


For more information, see www.nwinsurance.org/in_rent.htm or www.insurance.wa.gov/consumers/home/homeowner.asp

• Personal property from your car, like a stereo that is not permanently installed, CDs and sports gear.

Renters' insurance typically covers damage from windstorms, vandalism, theft, water damage from plumbing and liability protection if the tenant is found liable for damage to others, Sanger said. But insurance doesn't typically include earthquakes or floods.

Before you start shopping for insurance policies, make an inventory of everything you own so you have an accurate idea of how much coverage you need.

Ask about category limits, such as an upper limit for a computer, and find out more about property covered outside of your home, like a bicycle.

Also figure out if the policy only replaces your belongings for the current value or will pay for you to buy a new television, or replacement-cost coverage. Valuable items like a diamond ring or an instrument often must be covered separately.

Be sure to shop around and ask questions so you know what different insurance companies cover, though many offer discounts if you already have auto insurance with them.

"If you're renting a home or an apartment, definitely consider purchasing renters' insurance," Sanger said.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com