Why College Students Need Tenant Insurance
Summer’s gone and school’s back. For a lot of university students that means leaving the nest and finding a place to live for the school year. Some students choose to live in campus residences, while others will prefer finding their own place off campus.
Regardless of where you rest your head at night, it should be in a place that's clean and safe. Tenant insurance is vital for keeping it that way.
What is Tenant Insurance?
Also called renter’s insurance, these policies insure your possessions against perils like fire, theft and vandalism. Pretty much all of which are fairly likely to happen when you get a bunch of young people with limited experience taking care of a home stuck together for extended periods of time.
Additionally, if someone were to hurt themselves while over at your house or apartment and they sue you, liability coverage will keep you from needing to pay legal fees out of pocket and can help settle the suit.
Actual Cash Value or Replacement Cost?
Which of these you choose determines how the insurance company will reimburse you for any personal property claims. Actual Cash Value will pay you back the value of the items at the time they were damaged/stolen. Because the value of most items depreciate over time, the money you’d get would be less than what you paid for it and that would mean you’ll probably have to pay out of pocket to replace it.
Choosing Replacement Cost insurance pays you the full replacement value of items based on what they were worth when you purchased it. So if your five year old laptop gets stolen the insurance company would replace it with a new one of similar quality.
How much does it cost?
Tenant Insurance is actually very reasonable and should only run you about $200 - $400 per year paid in monthly installments.
Hmm, Still Sounds Pricy. Do I Really Need it?
Similar to regular home insurance, the answer is no you don’t absolutely need to get tenant insurance - although some landlords state in your lease that you are required to get it. You may genuinely feel that you don’t own anything worth protecting and that’s O.K., but most people in this country have a lot of stuff.
For just a couple hundred of dollars per year most people can get full insurance coverage for all of their belongings. If the worst case should happen and you lost everything in a fire that couple hundred of dollars doesn’t look too bad compared to the cost of replacing everything you own out of your pocket, does it?
Ways to save a few bucks on your home insurance policy:
- The first step should be to compare rates online to find the best deal. Believe it or not companies simply have different prices in different areas. One may be the lowest in one area it could be the highest in yours. Look online to see who has the best deal.
- As is typical with most insurance policies, you can lower your monthly payments by increasing your deductible (the amount you pay out of pocket before the insurance company helps out).
- There are often discounts for bundling multiple insurance policies with the same provider. If you have both your car and home insurance with the same company you can save big bucks.
Remember to ask your insurance representative about the limitations of your coverage and try not to pay for more coverage than you really need. Good luck with your new rental!