What To Know About Renter’s Insurance and Fire Coverage

12/1/2021 (Permalink)

What You Need To Know About Fire And Renter's Insurance.

If you’re a renter and your home in Delray Beach, FL, is damaged by fire, you need to understand that the value of your personal belongings is not protected by the insurance coverage your landlord holds. Your landlord’s insurance takes care of structural damage. What can you do to recover the value of your personal belongings? Consider renter’s insurance. Each policy is different so here are some coverage types you want to know about before you call an agent.

Coverage Considerations.

Insurance policies may encompass different types of coverage. Here are some common features of these plans:

• Loss of Use. This piece of the policy can help you pay for a place to stay if your rental abode is damaged.
• Liability. This is a common feature of most renter’s insurance policies and is important to protect you from financial destitution in the case that you or your family may have accidently started the fire.
• Medical Payments to Others. These are usually smaller payments for minor, no-fault injuries, but are still an important part of coverage.

Make sure you discuss these with your agent and decide what selections are right for you.

Item Valuation.

Another important detail to check is if your plan covers replacement costs or cash value for items with fire damage. You don’t really want a policy that will only pay you cash value. That means that your belongings are depreciated and have a lesser value. This makes sense that the television you’ve had for ten years may only fetch a few bucks, but if you need to replace a TV damaged by fire, you would certainly have to pay more than that.

Recovery.

If a fire does strike, a renter’s insurance policy can help protect you financially by helping with injuries, money for a place to live temporarily and replacement of your belongings. You may also benefit from calling a professional for damage assessment to see if any of your personal items may be recoverable. Professionals specialize in fire restoration and may be able to clean smoke or soot from your personal items.