Don’t get left out in the cold without renters insurance

It’s easy to think of renters insurance as providing coverage strictly for one’s belongings.
“I don’t have much stuff,” someone might say as to why he/she does not need renters insurance.
The truth is, there’s much more to renters insurance than just insuring your personal property.
The personal property coverage is important, no doubt. If a tornado or fire destroyed the place you were living, the thousands of dollars of coverage on your renters policy could go a long way toward replacing your clothing, electronics, furniture, food, etc.
There is also coverage on a renters policy called Loss of Use, which can pay for an alternate place to rent or live if a covered event such as a fire or tornado destroys your home or makes it unlivable.
The coverage, though, on a renters policy that we’ve been seeing used more and more lately is the liability. On multiple occasions here at Cook, Downing & Underwood Insurance in Glasgow, Ky., we’ve experienced claims involving a kitchen fire where the landlord’s insurance carrier has gone back against the tenant’s carrier when he/she accidentally or negligently caused a fire. In those claims, the tenant’s insurance carrier paid the landlord’s carrier for damages in amounts ranging from a few thousand dollars on one claim to tens of thousands of dollars for another.
In both cases, the tenant’s inexpensive renters policy provided vital coverage that would not have otherwise been there had the tenant declined to take a renters policy. Had that happened, the tenant could have been drawn into a very difficult, lengthy and costly legal entanglement.
You might not have “much stuff” in terms of personal property, but that’s no reason to bypass a renters policy.
For value and protection, it’s hard to beat a renters policy.
It protects more than just your personal property. It can protect YOU.