renters insurance

Basic renter insurance will provide coverage to you, in the event that your belongings are lost. The range of causes can include:

-fire
-water damage (broken pipes)
-burglary

This insurance will also cover damage caused by you, to the landlords property. For instance, if you host a party, and one of your guests breaks a hole in the wall.

Several things to consider before moving on:

Your inventory:
Take a look around your dwelling. Make note of all items of value, and especially of those items with high value/high replacement cost. It might be good to catalog all of your possessions in a table or spreadsheet for easy future reference.

Deductibles:
With any type of insurance policy, you'll have to decide how much your deductibles are going to be. In general, the higher the deductible, the lower your premium will be.

Replacement Cost and Actual Value:
Basic policies begin with coverage for the actual cash values of your covered belongings. Example: a 10 year old TV would be covered for its initial cost, minus the depreciated cost. A 10 year old TV is really not worth much today, so in the end, you wouldn't get much cash for it. If you have items like this, it may be better to opt for replacement cost coverage instead. With this coverage, you would be reimbursed for the total current cost of a new TV. A thing to remember is that replacement cost coverage is more expensive, but perhaps worth the extra cost.

Loss of use coverage:
If, for some reason, you aren't able to live within your apartment, your coverage will take care of expenses that are incurred through food and lodging.

Specialty Items:
If you have very valuable items that come with difficult replacement, you might want to consider a “floater”. Items that might be included: antiques, jewelry, special electronic equipment, etc. A floater policy is essentially a separate policy from your general coverage, and it is designed for these special items. Compared to the replacement cost of these items, this coverage is relatively inexpensive.