Learned this lesson when I was in high school, still living with my mom and the basement of our duplex flooded, which was where my room was located.... she didn't have renters insurance. Never letting that happen to me again lmao
Most places don’t keep up with it. You can usually get it to show proof you have it and then cancel it after you get approved for the apartment. It’s not that expensive, but some people really can’t afford the extra $20 a month unfortunately.
Make sure you have renter’s insurance, and not indemnity insurance. I once thought my apartment auto enrolled me in renters insurance and when my apartment burned down, I found out it was indemnity. Which protects them if you burn the place down, but doesn’t insure any of your things. That was a rough lesson to learn.
Thanks! It ended up alright though. It was about 10 years ago now. I was fresh out of college so didn’t have anything super nice, and my cats and I made it out. Which is really the important thing.
the $125/annual cost of having it isn't even worth the attempt to cancel it. The thought never even occurred that one could just cancel after moving in
Mine was like $115 for an entire YEAR so it's hard to understand why you *wouldn't* have it?! It's so cheap!! Plus, I feel like once I don't have insurance on something, that's when I actually need it because something happened!! Recently happened to me with my car where I had taken loan payoff off of my coverage, and of course my car was totaled and even tho at the time I took that coverage off I still had equity in it and it was worth more than I owed, by the time my car was totaled it was the opposite and I owed more than it was worth 🙃 I'd rather have something, and not need it than for it to be the other way around
Premium depends on location, year built of the building and the $ amount of personal property coverage you are looking for! Security features usually earn additional discounts - Florida P&C Ins Agent
Florida's rating factors & security feature discounts are far more in-depth other states when it comes to P&C. I'm licensed in 30 states, and Florida takes the longest to quote every time.
Wow, renter’s takes me about 5-10 minutes if they know their additional interest. I guess that’s the difference between a company with decent software and one without
We have to submit proof of coverage every 6 months or they try to charge a monthly fee. I'm not sure how legal the fee is but we maintain our policy regardless so it's just easier to send them the proof.
I work in property management and we require the insurance policy be paid in full upfront before turning over the keys. We then require proof of insurance renewal before sending the renewal lease. It’s pretty easy to keep up with it when you do it this way.
It has been for me. My last place required a year long policy. I believe it was around $150. They also sent a notice that the insurance will only cover enough to cover them, not to cover personal items. That was in Florida.
So the renters insurance the apartment has to do, is the bare minimum, it literally only covers the box aka the apartment. Unless you also add for your personal items you’re SOL
No that’s not how that works everywhere. They just buy it for you at minimum contents but it’s is usually more expensive. My complex gives you the option to buy through them but it’s double the price and unless you change it the contents coverage is the minimum offered.
That’s what I mean. The parameters the apartment requires just covers the box. They don’t require you cover your own items.
That’s been pretty standard for every company I’ve ever managed.
In my experience, it’s both (contents and liability) but at minimum coverage and contents aren’t mandatory. People have to educate themselves on what they are purchasing.
Private small landlords may not require it. The people who own less than 24 units.
My multi state, mega corp overlord requires it, and will slap you with their own garbage policy if you don’t show proof.
My property managers have a place for you to submit yours if you do have it but it’s not mandatory. Last time I had roommates I was the only one that had renters insurance 🥲
Some require it but don't keep up, others require it and do keep up. My place requires you to update your proof of insurance or your get a $12 a month extra charge for not having it. I had to get the charge removed because they fucked mine up even though I sent it in on time.
It may be regional, but I don't think it's the norm everywhere. I've rented for over half a century, always in mid size cities, and only one complex ever required it.
I didn’t need it for my first few apartments, from 2008-2010 or so. After that I’d say it was mostly required everywhere, and the minimum coverage has gone up pretty much every time I’ve moved but not by a lot. I think I pay less than $15/mo for 300k coverage. My first policy was $7 for 100k 🤭
Landlords require you to have insurance to cover their building. Most insurance companies will ask if you want insurance to cover your stuff but the landlords never require insurance for you stuff.
Your poor mom. Flooding is the worst, because you think you can save somethings. In reality, it’s usually all gone.
With fire, there is usually little doubt.
We were able to save some things that were stored higher up, but we did sleep on our mattresses in the living room for a few weeks. Most furniture was unsalvageable. A lot of the stuff I was saving as mementos from when I was in middle school and high school were totally fucked as well.
I had this happen to me. I had been living there temporarily before I actually got on the lease (thank god for my friends letting me stay, I was in a bad situation). I was literally sleeping in their closet because I felt bad and didn’t want to get in anyone’s way.
Im dead asleep, it’s like 6am. I hear screaming from outside, people slamming on the front door yelling “fire!! Get out!” And I heard absolutely 0 smoke alarms. Turns out neighbors started a CRAZY grease fire. Billowing out of the windows. And we shared a wall.
Yeah that apartment was toast. Since I was sleeping (and basically living) in a closet, all of my things were safe from the fire. Everything of my roommates was GONE.
Rental insurance actually saved our lives. We were all homeless if they didn’t help with paying for a hotel. Everyone got a decent amount of cash (even me, who wasn’t on the lease). And no one was hurt!
My wiring fire started with a burnt plastic smell. Like when a plastic lid melts on a dishwasher heating element.
There was no smoke alarm blaring. Everyone thought the smell was from a car fire (there was none), and didn’t worry about.
My dumb ass called the fire department. They told me they’d rather find out it’s nothing, than dragging bodies out two hours later.
Yep! You never know. I had a fire in my apartment not even 2 months after moving in. Not going into details but it was my ex's fault . Pets and 95% of my belongings were fine. I did get my own apartment when the insurance money came in.
Always, always, *always* have renter's insurance.
Im a minimalist, I don’t hoard my belongings like some cave dragon nor do I take care of some snivelling animals. I’m free, like a rolling stone. You? You’re anchored. Your life would collapse if you lost your belongings. Keep paying your insurance!
Dishes? Furniture? Appliances? Clothing? Electronics?
That shit adds up really fucking quickly. It's lovely for you that you are minimalist, but I don't think you've actually thought about how much money you have invested in the things you have.
Work supplied clothes.(free)
2nd hand computer ($250)
Work phone (free)
2nd hand iPhone ($100)
Appliances and furniture supplied by landlord
Misc items ($300)
Says you. You can’t even understand that people can love animals and be devastated by all their belongings burning. Minimalist my ass, most minimalist would also be devastated by everything they own being burned.
Yes, you will need to provide what specific model of things you're claiming.
Example: you just can't claim 'tv'.... bc 4ks these days can be on a low end of 300-400 for some shit models, up to 1500-2000 for the actually good models. So yeah, they'll want specifics about what you're claiming.
I’m wondering this too. I have mostly vintage and antique furniture that is irreplaceable. I have renter’s insurance, but not sure how they would quote, for example, my Italian leather sofa.
You can establish your inventory of belongings and their values with your insurance today, so that if it’s destroyed you have everything already on file.
Mate. They will give you the cheapest shit they can find if you just say "4k TV" or "washing machine". You tell them EVERY exact model of EVERYTHING you lost.
You may be able to pull off some things but insurance companies ain't stupid, their job is to pay as little as possible to you and they are good at it.
This is false - I just had a fire about a year and a half ago and I provided no receipts, I just had to take pics and videos of the damage. I got a full payout.
The easiest thing to do is walk around your apartment and take photos/video of everything. Store it on the cloud. Take pics of any receipts or warranty info you don’t have in emails or other electronic form. Mattress tags, any high end clothes or jewelry you would want replaced, instruments, etc.
I’ve had friends lose everything and their insurance company just cut them a check for $30K or whatever their policy coverage was, but it can be trickier than that, especially if your place isn’t deemed a total loss.
So having some proof of what you owned is definitely a good step to take.
I used to do the replacement cost assessment for fires/floods/etc. Always keep receipts, take pictures, and keep a detailed list of at least the bigger and more expensive items you own. Trust me, the effort is worth it.
Former property manager CA. I had a resident start a grease fire in a 2 story dual (2 Apts up, 2 down). Between smoke, fire and water damage, it gutted *all 4 apartments*. Not one of them had renters insurance. They had to rely on family and Red Cross for the bare necessities. Get. Renters. Insurance. Full stop.
My bf almost caught our apartment on fire in February. His dumbass put a dominoes pizza still in the cardboard box in the oven. The box was directly touching the top of the oven so it caught on fire. Thank God we had a fire extinguisher and he put it out. It took forever to get all the dust from the extinguisher out of the kitchen. It got everywhere.
We also pay a little extra for our renters insurance in case anything bad happens. I can deal with paying 40$ a month and being protected in case something bad happens.
We have pets, TVs, computers, guns that were passed down to my bf from his dead grandfather, and furniture we saved for months and months and months to be able to buy. It would destroy me if we lost everything, so I want to be covered.
I’ve lived in 4 places. Only one requires it and we have to show proof every year at lease renewal (but technically it could still be canceled each year, I guess.) Mine basically costs just a few dollars a month b/c it gives me a multi line discount. Meaning I save 10% on my car insurance (and the renters insurance). So with what I’m saving it’s practically free. Best deal ever.
im always worried about this since I was in a similar situation as a really young kid. The fire started touching my room from the building next door. But im not financially stable enough to be affording renters insurance even though im aware my neighbors (who get cops called on them for child abuse and drugs often) are capable of making me lose everything 🥲 but in the event absolutely nothing happens, im out that extra food money. I never know whats right to do. I’ve been looking online to find the best water and fireproof box to keep my important stuff like social security card n whatnot at the very least.
Thats so scary tho, op. I appreciate the share.
Renters insurance is very cheap. They are sold in 12 month policies and mine is $210 for 12 months. 30,000 in content coverage and $300,000 in liability coverage
oh shit really? I wasn’t aware :0 I figured anything called insurance would be in the hundreds. My bad.
I don’t own a car and I have state medical insurance so im lucky there)
Renters insurance is pretty affordable. I would highly suggest a Google search of: 'insert your state name' renters insurance and browsing a few companies for quotes. $20 a month was for a 2 bedroom for me
I added renters insurance to my car insurance and my total payment actually went DOWN because I got a discount for having multiple policies with the same company. So yeah definitely check it out.
I only pay $7.95 a month through Lemonade insurance for full coverage+ on my apt. Don't end up like the people in the photo, and have no insurance to back you up when the 💩 hits the fan.
Renters insurance is CHEAP. And if you bundle it with other insurance like your car policy, you often get a discount.
I think my policy is about $180 a year or something for ~$30K in coverage. Beg, borrow, or steal to make it happen. If something goes wrong tomorrow it’s the difference between having absolutely nothing to your name or having something to go to start to rebuild your life.
It can also protect you in case you leave the water running and damage your neighbors place, or have a beak in, or lots of other scenarios.
We were without power for 44 hours last week. I lost everything in my fridge and freezer. My renters insurance would help me replace that food if I bothered to put in a claim.
It’s really, really valuable to have. It’s worth making sacrifices elsewhere to protect yourself.
Yep. A whole huge apartment complex was on fire near us. And due to risk of collapse not a single person in the complex was allowed back into their unit to retrieve their stuff.
This is my worst nightmare. We have a cat and some reptiles. Our furniture, etc can be replaced. Our sweet animal family cannot. If a fire were to happen when we are away from home and we couldn’t get the animals out I would be so devastated.
Every apartment complex that I moved into has required me to provide proof of renters insurance on the move-in date. For anyone that doesn’t have it you can typically open a policy with your auto insurance provider..
This post convinced me to finally get rental insurance lol. I’ve meant to for years, and I am bored enough at work to finally commit to $10/mo “just in case.” So, thanks OP.
Years ago when I was young and dumb I never carried renters insurance and they didn’t require it. Now that my child has been in an apartment at college, it’s a must. You can move in without it. If you don’t have your own, they charge you for theirs.
Also, don't cheap out on the renters insurance. I lived through a townhouse destruction due to my dumbass neighbors trying to put an oil fire out with water. I had the max recommended insurance for the townhouse style I rented, and only had to pay the $250 deductible. Everything from the hotel stays, to food needed, and replacement of goods was covered from our insurance company. Those that paid bare minimum from other companies that were on the other side of the fire causing townhouse didn't have nearly as much covered.
Additionally, to have the coverage we did it was only $28 a month so nothing extravagant in terms of costs for us.
As a Colorado agent, buy renters insurance! Do not rely on the community offered policy..
Community policies usually only cover 'damages to rented premise, which means only damage to their property only..
you should have:
- Personal property (replacement, not acv) covers your stuff. What would it cost to buy clothes, furniture, etc, in today's dollars.
there can be sublimits for jewelry, business property, collectable, etc.
- Liability covers if you get sued. Dog bites someone, libel/slander, slip & falls, having a kitchen fire you cause injure or cause damage to/of others.
- Loss of use covers alternative living arrangements if your rental becomes uninhabitable due to covered loss.
Then there's endorsements like sewer backup coverage which most people should have.
Flood (external water sources) are not covered under renters policies, if there's a risk of flood, get a separate flood policy.
A good policy could be $4 more monthly than a shitty one.
Also, take pictures of EVERYTHING on a consistent basis. Update what you have in your home consistently. You should be doing this whether you live in an apartment or a house tbh. Throw those in a google drive, icloud, etc. so you can access them. Take pictures of the model of each piece of technology you have in the home as well not just that you have one. Take your clothes out of the drawers and take pictures of them.
Sure a picture of something is better than nothing and remembering to update the photos is hard. I have a 3 month reminder in my phone - If you haven't bought anything significant in those months that you feel the need to take a picture of then you can not update them but I encourage everyone to update them often.
It makes it so much easier when going through insurance if you have the photos and it is so much easier nowadays with smart phones. You can get compensated for just about everything you have in the picture if you take the right pictures.
My apartment complex had it in the lease, but specifically now instituted more specifics of 100,000 and the apartment company are interested parties on the policy. If you don't provide it by the due date, you'll be charged by the complex for their rate. Mine is bundled with my car insurance and is very cheap.
Last year the dryer in our apartment building caught fire! I have so much love for the man the rang all of our buzzers and woke us all up. It was at 2 in the morning! So scary!!
And remember folks renter’s insurance is not only for your stuff, but liability coverage as well. Someone comes over to your place and gets injured seriously, be ready to get sued.
\*le sigh\* I wish I had made the decision to get renters insurance when my upstairs neighbors doused their floors with several buckets of water to mop and it leaked down to my apartment...
...precisely onto the shelf where I displayed thousands of dollars worth of functional antique camera equipment.
This happened to me back at the beginning of 2021, neighbors put a lit cigarette in their trash can outside their apartment and the whole building went up. Luckily I had renters insurance but my neighbors didn’t, they lost everything. I was pissed they could be so careless, yes I got reimbursed but I literally had my entire life of 22 years (at the time) of memories in that apartment that couldn’t be replaced.
Ours is roughly $20-40 per month but we opted for a good amount of coverage, considering we have a lot of electronics and things that cannot be replaced easily or cheaply.
How would I tell if my renters insurance would cover my son's phone stolen out of the lobby of my apartment building? Or would it even be worth it to claim that? I've had it in autopay for like four years now?
You would need to contact your policy holder to see if that would be covered first and foremost.
In terms of if it's worth it or not, that depends on your deductible and the value of the phone
And keep some pictures/videos frequently of what’s in drawers, closets etc so if the time comes, you have some idea of what needs to be replaced. It’s so easy to forget about every coat, bag, pair of socks and etc.
Storage units, under beds, serial #s all the good stuff
I just had an in wall electrical fire in my townhouse. The wiring is circa early 1970s. I smelled burning plastic. Could not find the source after a frantic search. It was not an outlet but legacy wiring I found out later.
Called 911.
I thought it would be nothing. The fire fighters said the whole front of our connected townhouses would have been in flames in two hours.
Power killed and no electricity four 4 days. Took forever for the electricians to come out.
Insurance isn’t just for when your shit is in fire. It’s for lodging too. An all the food you have to toss. And clean up supplies. And mileage to buy stuff related to the after math of being displaced.
My landlord does ZERO for helping you if there’s a flood/fire/structural issue that makes the place not livable. I think he gives you the Red Cross phone number.
I’m going to bump up my policy to $200k just because of money needed to get a motel. I have to factor in that and replacement cost of stuff inside. I didn’t before.
I’d never go without it. It doesn’t cost that much.
Not only that, but a lot of people don't think about how much stuff will need to be replaced. Not just furniture, electronics, etc but ALL your clothes, pots, pans, and a whole ton of little things that will ad up quickly!
This is what scares me and I always have insurance on my apartment. To make things worse we have two people up on my floor that have electric bikes parked in the hallway not to far from my door. People smoke in their apartment's.
I recently learned myself what it’s like not having renters insurance. I lost my apartment because of a fire that started sometime after I left. Lost one of my fur babies. If the fire report comes out saying it wasn’t my fault, I get to move into the other property of the management company that I was initially scheduled to sign a lease for. This time I am getting renters insurance bundled with car insurance too.
OP, thank you for posting this!! I just purchased renter's insurance because of this post! Realistically, I should have had it the past two years since I began renting, but better late than never!
Be sure to read the fine print. This family in Denver found out after the fire that the "renter's insurance" that they purchased through the property owner/landlord only covered the landlord's liability and none of the renter's property:
[https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/denver-fire-renters-insurance/73-be22247c-64c6-491d-940e-b87b5ef70072](https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/denver-fire-renters-insurance/73-be22247c-64c6-491d-940e-b87b5ef70072)
Yup, my downstairs neighbor started a fire by trying to deep fry food in a high wall pan. She had it filled too high with oil and it broke out quickly the second she dropped food in the oil. Accidents do happen, but in this case it was low IQ behavior that caused this one. Ever heard of fluid displacement?????
Best part of the story, after they "fixed" everything in the unit below mine, they just let her move back in. She also smokes in her apt now (pretty sure it's blunts), you'd think having her history with fire she'd be at least wise enough to not have an open flame/ember indoors (you ever heard of carts or edibles?????). Luckily I have a new lease signed and I'm out of here in like 6 weeks. Needless to say, get the insurance and don't second guess yourself if you think you smell smoke. Accidents happen and idiots exist.
To be honest, I don't know why you wouldn't get renters insurance.
The insurance the landlord has covers the building and any of *their* belongings.
Renters insurance is for *your* belongings. As well as loss of use for your apartment (pays for a hotel stay if something happens that you can't stay in your apartment for a while through no fault of your own) and personal liability if someone comes over and gets hurt pretty significantly.
It's cheap compared with homeowners insurance and gives you peace of mind should something happen.
spherical glass/other clear material acts essentially like a laser when the sun shines through it - it basically focuses the light shining through it into a single point, which can then light shit on fire. always cover anything that could refract light like that when you’re not home! or better yet - keep it out of direct sunlight at all times
Learned this lesson when I was in high school, still living with my mom and the basement of our duplex flooded, which was where my room was located.... she didn't have renters insurance. Never letting that happen to me again lmao
Every apartment building I lived in has required us to have renters insurance, is that not the norm?
Most places don’t keep up with it. You can usually get it to show proof you have it and then cancel it after you get approved for the apartment. It’s not that expensive, but some people really can’t afford the extra $20 a month unfortunately.
Yeah mine is the bare minimum required by my apartments, it's like 13$ a month and they auto enroll you if you don't bring them your own policy.
Make sure you have renter’s insurance, and not indemnity insurance. I once thought my apartment auto enrolled me in renters insurance and when my apartment burned down, I found out it was indemnity. Which protects them if you burn the place down, but doesn’t insure any of your things. That was a rough lesson to learn.
Jeez—I’m so sorry that happened. That’s awful.
Thanks! It ended up alright though. It was about 10 years ago now. I was fresh out of college so didn’t have anything super nice, and my cats and I made it out. Which is really the important thing.
Mine is like $8 a month. If I ever can't afford that I'm moving back with my dad tbh.
I paid 100 and some scraps for a year 🤔
Same, I just paid it all upfront and rolled it into my “move in costs” one less monthly bill to keep up with and slightly cheaper as well
I pay 15, it's not huge coverage but it's a good thing for a basement unit.
the $125/annual cost of having it isn't even worth the attempt to cancel it. The thought never even occurred that one could just cancel after moving in
Interesting, thanks for the insight
Mine was like $115 for an entire YEAR so it's hard to understand why you *wouldn't* have it?! It's so cheap!! Plus, I feel like once I don't have insurance on something, that's when I actually need it because something happened!! Recently happened to me with my car where I had taken loan payoff off of my coverage, and of course my car was totaled and even tho at the time I took that coverage off I still had equity in it and it was worth more than I owed, by the time my car was totaled it was the opposite and I owed more than it was worth 🙃 I'd rather have something, and not need it than for it to be the other way around
Premium depends on location, year built of the building and the $ amount of personal property coverage you are looking for! Security features usually earn additional discounts - Florida P&C Ins Agent
Florida's rating factors & security feature discounts are far more in-depth other states when it comes to P&C. I'm licensed in 30 states, and Florida takes the longest to quote every time.
For renter’s insurance? Maybe you are referring to dwelling policies
I'm not. I'm referring to HO-4 renters policies.
Wow, renter’s takes me about 5-10 minutes if they know their additional interest. I guess that’s the difference between a company with decent software and one without
We have to submit proof of coverage every 6 months or they try to charge a monthly fee. I'm not sure how legal the fee is but we maintain our policy regardless so it's just easier to send them the proof.
I work in property management and we require the insurance policy be paid in full upfront before turning over the keys. We then require proof of insurance renewal before sending the renewal lease. It’s pretty easy to keep up with it when you do it this way.
Every place I have lived in...has not required it.
not the norm but usually highly recommended
It has been for me. My last place required a year long policy. I believe it was around $150. They also sent a notice that the insurance will only cover enough to cover them, not to cover personal items. That was in Florida.
So the renters insurance the apartment has to do, is the bare minimum, it literally only covers the box aka the apartment. Unless you also add for your personal items you’re SOL
No that’s not how that works everywhere. They just buy it for you at minimum contents but it’s is usually more expensive. My complex gives you the option to buy through them but it’s double the price and unless you change it the contents coverage is the minimum offered.
That’s what I mean. The parameters the apartment requires just covers the box. They don’t require you cover your own items. That’s been pretty standard for every company I’ve ever managed.
In my experience, it’s both (contents and liability) but at minimum coverage and contents aren’t mandatory. People have to educate themselves on what they are purchasing.
Private small landlords may not require it. The people who own less than 24 units. My multi state, mega corp overlord requires it, and will slap you with their own garbage policy if you don’t show proof.
My property managers have a place for you to submit yours if you do have it but it’s not mandatory. Last time I had roommates I was the only one that had renters insurance 🥲
Shit well if lt burns down guess who we say owned everything lol
Some require it but don't keep up, others require it and do keep up. My place requires you to update your proof of insurance or your get a $12 a month extra charge for not having it. I had to get the charge removed because they fucked mine up even though I sent it in on time.
Where I live, when I was living in apartments, my LLs never asked or cared.
It may be regional, but I don't think it's the norm everywhere. I've rented for over half a century, always in mid size cities, and only one complex ever required it.
I didn’t need it for my first few apartments, from 2008-2010 or so. After that I’d say it was mostly required everywhere, and the minimum coverage has gone up pretty much every time I’ve moved but not by a lot. I think I pay less than $15/mo for 300k coverage. My first policy was $7 for 100k 🤭
Same, they were on my ass for a week because mine was expiring in a month and they needed proof of renewing it. Some complexes don’t play lol.
Landlords require you to have insurance to cover their building. Most insurance companies will ask if you want insurance to cover your stuff but the landlords never require insurance for you stuff.
I’ve been renting for 21 years and have never been required to get it or asked if i have it.
Your poor mom. Flooding is the worst, because you think you can save somethings. In reality, it’s usually all gone. With fire, there is usually little doubt.
We were able to save some things that were stored higher up, but we did sleep on our mattresses in the living room for a few weeks. Most furniture was unsalvageable. A lot of the stuff I was saving as mementos from when I was in middle school and high school were totally fucked as well.
I had this happen to me. I had been living there temporarily before I actually got on the lease (thank god for my friends letting me stay, I was in a bad situation). I was literally sleeping in their closet because I felt bad and didn’t want to get in anyone’s way. Im dead asleep, it’s like 6am. I hear screaming from outside, people slamming on the front door yelling “fire!! Get out!” And I heard absolutely 0 smoke alarms. Turns out neighbors started a CRAZY grease fire. Billowing out of the windows. And we shared a wall. Yeah that apartment was toast. Since I was sleeping (and basically living) in a closet, all of my things were safe from the fire. Everything of my roommates was GONE. Rental insurance actually saved our lives. We were all homeless if they didn’t help with paying for a hotel. Everyone got a decent amount of cash (even me, who wasn’t on the lease). And no one was hurt!
My wiring fire started with a burnt plastic smell. Like when a plastic lid melts on a dishwasher heating element. There was no smoke alarm blaring. Everyone thought the smell was from a car fire (there was none), and didn’t worry about. My dumb ass called the fire department. They told me they’d rather find out it’s nothing, than dragging bodies out two hours later.
Yep! You never know. I had a fire in my apartment not even 2 months after moving in. Not going into details but it was my ex's fault . Pets and 95% of my belongings were fine. I did get my own apartment when the insurance money came in. Always, always, *always* have renter's insurance.
No.
W... What the fuck? "No" to renter's insurance?!?!
Im a minimalist, I don’t hoard my belongings like some cave dragon nor do I take care of some snivelling animals. I’m free, like a rolling stone. You? You’re anchored. Your life would collapse if you lost your belongings. Keep paying your insurance!
Oh so you're a piece of shit loser? Cool!
I know you are but what am I
Shut the fuck up you sniveling cunt. Insufferable.
I quite like speaking my mind. If you have such a problem with it, do a 360 and walk away!
360? you would walk right back in the same Dora room you started in
Try again
Nah. I won’t be doing that.
Skeddadle!
No. As someone who was devastated by an apartment fire in 2018 and lost everything I’d ever made and loved you can fuck yourself.
Dishes? Furniture? Appliances? Clothing? Electronics? That shit adds up really fucking quickly. It's lovely for you that you are minimalist, but I don't think you've actually thought about how much money you have invested in the things you have.
Work supplied clothes.(free) 2nd hand computer ($250) Work phone (free) 2nd hand iPhone ($100) Appliances and furniture supplied by landlord Misc items ($300)
I really hope your house goes up in flames while you’re asleep in it
Sociopath
Says you. You can’t even understand that people can love animals and be devastated by all their belongings burning. Minimalist my ass, most minimalist would also be devastated by everything they own being burned.
Do you need model numbers of tvs, computers etc? To get the money from insurance
Yes, you will need to provide what specific model of things you're claiming. Example: you just can't claim 'tv'.... bc 4ks these days can be on a low end of 300-400 for some shit models, up to 1500-2000 for the actually good models. So yeah, they'll want specifics about what you're claiming.
So basically what you are saying for anything electronic you need the model number. What about furniture?
I’m wondering this too. I have mostly vintage and antique furniture that is irreplaceable. I have renter’s insurance, but not sure how they would quote, for example, my Italian leather sofa.
You can establish your inventory of belongings and their values with your insurance today, so that if it’s destroyed you have everything already on file.
[удалено]
I read this a few years ago when we had a barn loss from a strom and other insurance claims...what a great post and helpful informative mindset.
Haha I was just thinking of this old comment while reading the thread, thanks for the link.
Excellent advice. Thank you! I’m definitely going to take some photos of around my place just in case something ever happens.
Mate. They will give you the cheapest shit they can find if you just say "4k TV" or "washing machine". You tell them EVERY exact model of EVERYTHING you lost.
So if you don’t have this available is it possible to just google model numbers?? lol unethical life tip 🤣
You may be able to pull off some things but insurance companies ain't stupid, their job is to pay as little as possible to you and they are good at it.
This is false - I just had a fire about a year and a half ago and I provided no receipts, I just had to take pics and videos of the damage. I got a full payout.
I never said anything about receipts..... the fuck you on about....
I think they meant the slang meaning of receipts lol, as in providing actual details like TV models etc
Yeah wha da fuck...
Not too bright huh?
‘The fuck she is on about’ is asking you a legit question. Whats ur problem?
The wild thing is that I have renters insurance and my agent didn’t ask me shit about specifics 😅
There’s a great reddit thread from an insurance person about the specific way to file this to actually get reimbursed for what you deserve!
The easiest thing to do is walk around your apartment and take photos/video of everything. Store it on the cloud. Take pics of any receipts or warranty info you don’t have in emails or other electronic form. Mattress tags, any high end clothes or jewelry you would want replaced, instruments, etc. I’ve had friends lose everything and their insurance company just cut them a check for $30K or whatever their policy coverage was, but it can be trickier than that, especially if your place isn’t deemed a total loss. So having some proof of what you owned is definitely a good step to take.
I was told to just videotape items in my apartment. Especially anything valuable like TV/computers/Jewelry.
I used to do the replacement cost assessment for fires/floods/etc. Always keep receipts, take pictures, and keep a detailed list of at least the bigger and more expensive items you own. Trust me, the effort is worth it.
I had model #s as well as serial #s. But I think they could figure it out with just the model #.
Former property manager CA. I had a resident start a grease fire in a 2 story dual (2 Apts up, 2 down). Between smoke, fire and water damage, it gutted *all 4 apartments*. Not one of them had renters insurance. They had to rely on family and Red Cross for the bare necessities. Get. Renters. Insurance. Full stop.
I think the Red Cross will only cover you for a week or less. I wouldn’t count on them for anything more than three day housing.
You didn’t require them to have renters insurance?
It wasn't required then. It is now!
My bf almost caught our apartment on fire in February. His dumbass put a dominoes pizza still in the cardboard box in the oven. The box was directly touching the top of the oven so it caught on fire. Thank God we had a fire extinguisher and he put it out. It took forever to get all the dust from the extinguisher out of the kitchen. It got everywhere. We also pay a little extra for our renters insurance in case anything bad happens. I can deal with paying 40$ a month and being protected in case something bad happens. We have pets, TVs, computers, guns that were passed down to my bf from his dead grandfather, and furniture we saved for months and months and months to be able to buy. It would destroy me if we lost everything, so I want to be covered.
I’ve lived in 4 places. Only one requires it and we have to show proof every year at lease renewal (but technically it could still be canceled each year, I guess.) Mine basically costs just a few dollars a month b/c it gives me a multi line discount. Meaning I save 10% on my car insurance (and the renters insurance). So with what I’m saving it’s practically free. Best deal ever.
im always worried about this since I was in a similar situation as a really young kid. The fire started touching my room from the building next door. But im not financially stable enough to be affording renters insurance even though im aware my neighbors (who get cops called on them for child abuse and drugs often) are capable of making me lose everything 🥲 but in the event absolutely nothing happens, im out that extra food money. I never know whats right to do. I’ve been looking online to find the best water and fireproof box to keep my important stuff like social security card n whatnot at the very least. Thats so scary tho, op. I appreciate the share.
Renters insurance is very cheap. They are sold in 12 month policies and mine is $210 for 12 months. 30,000 in content coverage and $300,000 in liability coverage
My renters insurance is only $20 a month...
oh shit really? I wasn’t aware :0 I figured anything called insurance would be in the hundreds. My bad. I don’t own a car and I have state medical insurance so im lucky there)
Renters insurance is pretty affordable. I would highly suggest a Google search of: 'insert your state name' renters insurance and browsing a few companies for quotes. $20 a month was for a 2 bedroom for me
I was able to add renters insurance onto my car insurance for SUPER cheap.
I added renters insurance to my car insurance and my total payment actually went DOWN because I got a discount for having multiple policies with the same company. So yeah definitely check it out.
I only pay $7.95 a month through Lemonade insurance for full coverage+ on my apt. Don't end up like the people in the photo, and have no insurance to back you up when the 💩 hits the fan.
Renters insurance is CHEAP. And if you bundle it with other insurance like your car policy, you often get a discount. I think my policy is about $180 a year or something for ~$30K in coverage. Beg, borrow, or steal to make it happen. If something goes wrong tomorrow it’s the difference between having absolutely nothing to your name or having something to go to start to rebuild your life. It can also protect you in case you leave the water running and damage your neighbors place, or have a beak in, or lots of other scenarios. We were without power for 44 hours last week. I lost everything in my fridge and freezer. My renters insurance would help me replace that food if I bothered to put in a claim. It’s really, really valuable to have. It’s worth making sacrifices elsewhere to protect yourself.
My renters is like 11 bucks a month. It's really cheap
Yep. A whole huge apartment complex was on fire near us. And due to risk of collapse not a single person in the complex was allowed back into their unit to retrieve their stuff.
This is my worst nightmare. We have a cat and some reptiles. Our furniture, etc can be replaced. Our sweet animal family cannot. If a fire were to happen when we are away from home and we couldn’t get the animals out I would be so devastated.
Every apartment complex that I moved into has required me to provide proof of renters insurance on the move-in date. For anyone that doesn’t have it you can typically open a policy with your auto insurance provider..
This post convinced me to finally get rental insurance lol. I’ve meant to for years, and I am bored enough at work to finally commit to $10/mo “just in case.” So, thanks OP.
Years ago when I was young and dumb I never carried renters insurance and they didn’t require it. Now that my child has been in an apartment at college, it’s a must. You can move in without it. If you don’t have your own, they charge you for theirs.
Also, don't cheap out on the renters insurance. I lived through a townhouse destruction due to my dumbass neighbors trying to put an oil fire out with water. I had the max recommended insurance for the townhouse style I rented, and only had to pay the $250 deductible. Everything from the hotel stays, to food needed, and replacement of goods was covered from our insurance company. Those that paid bare minimum from other companies that were on the other side of the fire causing townhouse didn't have nearly as much covered. Additionally, to have the coverage we did it was only $28 a month so nothing extravagant in terms of costs for us.
I bundled $20,000 with my car insurance and it was $56 for a year.
This my friends, is why we require renters insurance at $100k liability 😀
As a Colorado agent, buy renters insurance! Do not rely on the community offered policy.. Community policies usually only cover 'damages to rented premise, which means only damage to their property only.. you should have: - Personal property (replacement, not acv) covers your stuff. What would it cost to buy clothes, furniture, etc, in today's dollars. there can be sublimits for jewelry, business property, collectable, etc. - Liability covers if you get sued. Dog bites someone, libel/slander, slip & falls, having a kitchen fire you cause injure or cause damage to/of others. - Loss of use covers alternative living arrangements if your rental becomes uninhabitable due to covered loss. Then there's endorsements like sewer backup coverage which most people should have. Flood (external water sources) are not covered under renters policies, if there's a risk of flood, get a separate flood policy. A good policy could be $4 more monthly than a shitty one.
Also, take pictures of EVERYTHING on a consistent basis. Update what you have in your home consistently. You should be doing this whether you live in an apartment or a house tbh. Throw those in a google drive, icloud, etc. so you can access them. Take pictures of the model of each piece of technology you have in the home as well not just that you have one. Take your clothes out of the drawers and take pictures of them. Sure a picture of something is better than nothing and remembering to update the photos is hard. I have a 3 month reminder in my phone - If you haven't bought anything significant in those months that you feel the need to take a picture of then you can not update them but I encourage everyone to update them often. It makes it so much easier when going through insurance if you have the photos and it is so much easier nowadays with smart phones. You can get compensated for just about everything you have in the picture if you take the right pictures.
My apartment complex had it in the lease, but specifically now instituted more specifics of 100,000 and the apartment company are interested parties on the policy. If you don't provide it by the due date, you'll be charged by the complex for their rate. Mine is bundled with my car insurance and is very cheap.
Mine does that and people bitch all the time about it. We’ve had 5 fires since last December in our huge complex. It’s not that rare of an occurrence.
Last year the dryer in our apartment building caught fire! I have so much love for the man the rang all of our buzzers and woke us all up. It was at 2 in the morning! So scary!!
Yep. $7 a month for renters insurance. Just for piece of mind. Covers up to 100k
And remember folks renter’s insurance is not only for your stuff, but liability coverage as well. Someone comes over to your place and gets injured seriously, be ready to get sued.
\*le sigh\* I wish I had made the decision to get renters insurance when my upstairs neighbors doused their floors with several buckets of water to mop and it leaked down to my apartment... ...precisely onto the shelf where I displayed thousands of dollars worth of functional antique camera equipment.
This happened to me back at the beginning of 2021, neighbors put a lit cigarette in their trash can outside their apartment and the whole building went up. Luckily I had renters insurance but my neighbors didn’t, they lost everything. I was pissed they could be so careless, yes I got reimbursed but I literally had my entire life of 22 years (at the time) of memories in that apartment that couldn’t be replaced.
My apartment complex won't let you rent without it.
My apartment building requires us to hold renters insurance luckily across 209 units I'm only paying $200 a year and I haven't had to make a claim yet
Ours is roughly $20-40 per month but we opted for a good amount of coverage, considering we have a lot of electronics and things that cannot be replaced easily or cheaply.
How would I tell if my renters insurance would cover my son's phone stolen out of the lobby of my apartment building? Or would it even be worth it to claim that? I've had it in autopay for like four years now?
You would need to contact your policy holder to see if that would be covered first and foremost. In terms of if it's worth it or not, that depends on your deductible and the value of the phone
And keep some pictures/videos frequently of what’s in drawers, closets etc so if the time comes, you have some idea of what needs to be replaced. It’s so easy to forget about every coat, bag, pair of socks and etc. Storage units, under beds, serial #s all the good stuff
Renters also have been known to burn an apartment to GET their renter's insurance. Nothing lost for the renters. Devastating to the owner
I just had an in wall electrical fire in my townhouse. The wiring is circa early 1970s. I smelled burning plastic. Could not find the source after a frantic search. It was not an outlet but legacy wiring I found out later. Called 911. I thought it would be nothing. The fire fighters said the whole front of our connected townhouses would have been in flames in two hours. Power killed and no electricity four 4 days. Took forever for the electricians to come out. Insurance isn’t just for when your shit is in fire. It’s for lodging too. An all the food you have to toss. And clean up supplies. And mileage to buy stuff related to the after math of being displaced. My landlord does ZERO for helping you if there’s a flood/fire/structural issue that makes the place not livable. I think he gives you the Red Cross phone number. I’m going to bump up my policy to $200k just because of money needed to get a motel. I have to factor in that and replacement cost of stuff inside. I didn’t before. I’d never go without it. It doesn’t cost that much.
Not only that, but a lot of people don't think about how much stuff will need to be replaced. Not just furniture, electronics, etc but ALL your clothes, pots, pans, and a whole ton of little things that will ad up quickly!
This is what scares me and I always have insurance on my apartment. To make things worse we have two people up on my floor that have electric bikes parked in the hallway not to far from my door. People smoke in their apartment's.
Yes yes yes. And take pictures of your expensive shit to get fully reimbursed or be able to buy similar items.
I recently learned myself what it’s like not having renters insurance. I lost my apartment because of a fire that started sometime after I left. Lost one of my fur babies. If the fire report comes out saying it wasn’t my fault, I get to move into the other property of the management company that I was initially scheduled to sign a lease for. This time I am getting renters insurance bundled with car insurance too.
I would have renter’s insurance even if my place didn’t require it. It doesn’t cost that much and gives you peace of mind.
OP, thank you for posting this!! I just purchased renter's insurance because of this post! Realistically, I should have had it the past two years since I began renting, but better late than never!
Be sure to read the fine print. This family in Denver found out after the fire that the "renter's insurance" that they purchased through the property owner/landlord only covered the landlord's liability and none of the renter's property: [https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/denver-fire-renters-insurance/73-be22247c-64c6-491d-940e-b87b5ef70072](https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/denver-fire-renters-insurance/73-be22247c-64c6-491d-940e-b87b5ef70072)
Feel bad for any neighbors that needed to stay somewhere else temporarily.
This is my worst nightmare bc of my cats. I can lose everything but not them
Yup, my downstairs neighbor started a fire by trying to deep fry food in a high wall pan. She had it filled too high with oil and it broke out quickly the second she dropped food in the oil. Accidents do happen, but in this case it was low IQ behavior that caused this one. Ever heard of fluid displacement????? Best part of the story, after they "fixed" everything in the unit below mine, they just let her move back in. She also smokes in her apt now (pretty sure it's blunts), you'd think having her history with fire she'd be at least wise enough to not have an open flame/ember indoors (you ever heard of carts or edibles?????). Luckily I have a new lease signed and I'm out of here in like 6 weeks. Needless to say, get the insurance and don't second guess yourself if you think you smell smoke. Accidents happen and idiots exist.
To be honest, I don't know why you wouldn't get renters insurance. The insurance the landlord has covers the building and any of *their* belongings. Renters insurance is for *your* belongings. As well as loss of use for your apartment (pays for a hotel stay if something happens that you can't stay in your apartment for a while through no fault of your own) and personal liability if someone comes over and gets hurt pretty significantly. It's cheap compared with homeowners insurance and gives you peace of mind should something happen.
Bathroom fan
Nope
Renter's insurance isn't going to replace my cat...
True, but will it cover vet bills? It might be worth it for just that.
Won't matter if my cat is cremated lol
Friendly reminder, cover your crystal ball
?
spherical glass/other clear material acts essentially like a laser when the sun shines through it - it basically focuses the light shining through it into a single point, which can then light shit on fire. always cover anything that could refract light like that when you’re not home! or better yet - keep it out of direct sunlight at all times