Tips on renters insurance from an insurance broker

Renting

How much does it cost? Who needs it? What will it cover? What doesn’t it cover? What if you have a domestic partner?

Do you get wrapped up in the what-ifs? What if a fire breaks out in my building? What if my laptop gets stolen?

Well, there is something that can put your mind at ease — at least for the things you can put a price on, so maybe not that sweet birthday card from your parents. But that $1,000 laptop? Absolutely.  

Renters insurance is meant to protect renters in two different scenarios: loss of or damage to personal property and liability in case somebody is injured while on the property. 

We spoke with Christopher Valair, an insurance broker with John P. Russell Insurance in Stoughton, about the hows and whys of renters insurance. (This interview has been edited and condensed.) 

Q. How does renters insurance work?

A.  It’s one of those things that is going to cover a couple of different things. It’s going to cover your personal property, that means all of your personal effects, your clothing, electronics, furniture, anything from your bedroom set to your TV to your iPhone to your laptop to the dishes you bring with you. It’s also going to cover some personal liability. You’ll have a certain line of liability, depending upon what you select. The last thing is some loss of use. Say there’s a claim, and the apartment that you’re renting becomes uninhabitable. There’s going to be some coverage for loss of use, so you can rent another apartment. Again, it’s all based upon what coverage is selected.

Q. What doesn’t renters insurance cover?

A. There’s not a specific [answer]. On a typical policy, water is not covered. So, if there was a flood, you’d have to have a flood policy in force. If there’s a fire and your stuff is burned, well it’s covered. But if there’s arson and you set the fire, well then that’s not covered. There’s no real way to answer, because what I select on my policy is going to be different from what somebody else selects.

Q. Why should someone get renters insurance?

A. For a lot of people who are renting — whether it is because they don’t own a house or they are renting because they are at school — if something were to happen and they lost everything, you would want a renters policy. It’s inexpensive, and again, it’ll give you coverage for all of the stuff that you bring with you. 

Q. Are there any specific requirements under Massachusetts law for renters insurance?

A.  No, I believe there are some minimum requirements in terms of most companies. We represent only 11 different carriers for homeowners, so I can speak to only the 11 that we write for. I don’t think that any carrier in Massachusetts lets you write less than $100,000 for liability, or they’ll let you go without a certain value of personal property. Some companies might do some things differently, but for the most part, those are just the kind of standard requirements. 

Q. Do most landlords require renters insurance? If so, what exactly do they require?

A. Most landlords should require it as part of a lease. They should require at least that they [the renters] have the same liability limits, because if there is a claim, the people who own the building are not going to have coverage for the tenants. 

Q. How do you determine what kind of coverage you need?

A. You take inventory. There’s no real science here. If you have a lot of clothes, furniture, electronics, it doesn’t hurt to take inventory. I always say, “Hey, listen, at the end of the day, if everything was gone and you lost all of the possessions you had in your apartment, could you put a number on that?” and most people say, “It’s probably around X.” I always tell them, “If we go with X, it would cost you this much, and if we go with Y, it would cost you this.” It’s not an exact science. It never will be.

Q. Should the renter take a video inventory of the apartment?

A. If you have a lot of [things], you can take some photos and videos. Do you have to take a video? No. Is it recommended? Yeah, sure. If you take a video, and you do a little accounting in your head, or maybe make a spreadsheet, you can say, “Hey, I have this amount of money, and this is what it would cost if everything were to be lost in a claim.”

Q. How do you determine coverage when you have roommates?

A. If it’s just a roommate, such as me and my two friends just renting a place together, I would need a policy, and my roommate would need a policy. If it is an immediate family [member] — brother, sister, aunt, mother, father, and you’re the child — you would have direct coverage under their policy. You can do the same with domestic partners. If you are not bound by a marriage certificate and you live together, most companies will let you add the domestic partner onto that policy as well. I would say more than half the companies that I write for will add the domestic partner. You just have to specify it. Reach out to an agent. They can reach out to the carrier, and they can find out what it would be.

Q, How much does it typically cost to have renters insurance? 

A. I can give you a ballpark. It’s probably like $25 a month, but, again, it’s also going to depend on how much coverage you have. If I have my renters insurance bundled with my auto insurance, I’m going to get a better discount than someone who just has renters insurance by itself. 

Q. Should students living in on-campus housing get renters insurance? 

A. I would recommend buying a renters policy while you’re at school. Kids are in school, things break, things happen. You know, [your] laptop breaks, or who knows, right? There’s a million different scenarios we can go through. But for something so inexpensive, and I don’t mean to minimize, but for $25 a month, they can have extra coverage. It’s worth it. If you’re in school for 10 months, you can always cancel it when you leave.

Christopher Valair can be reached at [email protected].