ROCKY HILL, Conn. (WFSB) – Frozen pipes bursting can cause quite a bit of damage. If you’re a renter, it’s important to know how to protect your own belongings.

Just one example is the Concierge Apartments, where frozen pipes have caused damage to cars and people’s belongings.

In a letter from management to attorney general William Tong on February 5th, 2026, Concierge management wrote:

“As for personal property damage, all tenants are required by their lease to have renters’ insurance that covers any loss. On a case-by-case basis, Century Hills is willing to work with tenants directly in the event their insurer declines coverage.”

Heidi Summa is a private client advisor with Howard Gay Insurance in Connecticut. She explains it’s normal for your landlord’s insurance to only cover the building itself in a disaster. You need renter’s insurance to cover what belongs to you.

“Your renters insurance policy comes with coverage for your contents, which means your furniture, electronics, clothing and anything you could pretty much pick up and walk out with. If it was damaged from a burst pipe, your renters insurance would cover your damage to your belongings,” said Summa.

Summa suggests taking photos or videos of each room as a record of what you have.

“You want to go through room by room and document what you have, so that at the time of a loss, you will make sure that you account for everything,” said Summa.

Renters insurance can also protect you if you’re the one who caused damage.

“If you cause damage to somebody else’s property or somebody gets hurt in your unit, you can be responsible for that, and that is what you would have the renters policy for,” said Summa.

Summa says most renters policies are less than $20 a month and can be as low as $10 a month depending on the amount of coverage.

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