Insights on Insurance

Renters finding new places to live or re-signing leases this summer and fall should not discount the importance of renters insurance. “Many renters are unaware of their need to purchase renter's insurance to protect their belongings,” according to Mary Taylor, Lieutenant Governor and Insurance Director of Ohio. “It is important that renters carefully evaluate their need for insurance. Replacing personal possessions without coverage can be quite costly.”  Renters insurance covers personal property, such as furniture, appliances, clothing and electronics, and also provides certain liability protection. In addition, it can extend other protections up to a dollar limit – high-value items such as jewelry, computers, photography equipment, for example. The average renters insurance policy will cost between $15 and $25 per month, certainly a bargain, yet many Ohioans do not have renter's insurance. A 2011 Insurance Information Institute poll found that only 29 percent of renters purchase renters insurance.

Most landlords have insurance to financially protect them against structural damage to their properties, however, this protection does not extend to the renter’s personal property. Taylor advises renters to work with an insurance agent to determine the appropriate level of protection, to ask about available discounts, and, once coverage is secured, to conduct a home inventory complete with photos and video to expedite the insurance company’s handling of a potential claim. The insurance agent can also assist the renter in determining the need for and the additional cost of insuring for the perils of flood and earthquake, which are typically not covered in a renters policy.

Why expose everything you own to the carelessness of an unknown neighbor down the hall or upstairs from you?

David Carlson

President, Euclid Rotary Club; Past Chairman/Treasurer, Euclid Chamber of Commerce; President, Euclid Public Library Board; Owner, Nationwide Insurance Agency

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Volume 3, Issue 8, Posted 4:21 PM, 09.16.2012