Renter's insurance

[frugalone]

I've been looking into renter's insurance for DH and myself. We've never had it and I just decided the other day it's about time we did. I have been checking around online, and getting quotes from anywhere from $11 a month to $30+ a month. And that $30+ was with my car insurance company! So much for bundled discounts.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an insurance company?

[iris lilies]

What are you insuring for, exactly? Possessions? Is that really that important to you, what do you have of value that cant be replaced or you could go without? I do realize that a fire would be catastrophic for you, most likely.it could also be an opportunity to purge craploads of junk.

Is it possible to get liability-only renter's insurance?

When i was renting, I never had insurance and I didnt think about liability. Now that we have a sizeable stash, we self-insure for the little things, but we have liability-only on a couple of our houses. They are vacant and are not worth insurance for damage. Probably the biggest threat in this set up is someone careening down the street in a car and running into the house that sits on the sidewalk. Its only a few feet from the street. The central problem with this scenario is that the city would expect us to repair it, it is in an historic district that doesnt allow tear downs.

[razz]

Insurance can cover many things. Liability, catastrophic injury, water/fire damage to assets or possibly interior of your dwelling, etc. Not sure what you would want in a policy. If you investigate and find out what the options are, it will be easier to make a decision but do different companies offer different options so that you need to check more than one?

[Tradd]

I've always had my renter's insurance with State Farm, bundled with my car insurance. I've paid about $200 a year for some time for $25K. I really need to up it to replacement value coverage, particularly with the diving gear I've recently acquired.

[Tammy]

We pay 180 a year for the smallest policy allowed by our landlord. I wouldn't insure my possessions if I had a choice.

[frugalone]

I'm basically looking for $25K to replace our possessions, personal liability (in case anyone gets hurt on the property) and reimbursement for temporary rehousing. Yes, I would be glad to get rid of a LOT of the crap we have, but the thought of replacing all our clothing, our computer, cameras, kitchen equipment (my fridge is two years old and we are buying a new washer 'cause the old one died), basic furniture, etc. is overwhelming. I've got to talk to more agents. Progressive looks like a decent plan.

Our car insurance is through Geico. I didn't care for their approach at all. When I got the quote, which was over $30 a month (too high IMHO), they said "other companies" won't reimburse us for buying new stuff; just depreciation on the old stuff. Then they asked me for my credit card number so we could "get started." I don't care for the hard sell approach. Otherwise, they are a fine car insurance company.

[frugalone]

Update: I found a plan I'm happy with through Travelers. It's about $11 a month. I feel good about taking this step.

[jp1]

The suggestions i would have are to get rep lacememt cost for your possessions, and maybe off premises theft. They will both probably be optional at a small additional cost. The one claim i ever had benefitted from them. (My bike got stolen while locked up on a street in NYC).

[Gardenarian]

I am a newbie landlord, and the property management company I'm using requires renter's insurance. I asked why, and they told me the insurance covers not only your tenant's belongings, but any damage that they might accidentally cause to the house or apartment. It is $8 per month here.