My apartment covers my stuff right?

One of the big mysteries is often renters insurance. I know that when I signed my first apartment lease they asked if I had renters insurance or if I wanted to buy it through them. I'll admit I was pretty clueless about the whole thing. They basically said here you can have insurance through us for 11 dollars a month. Well obviously I knew we should probably buy insurance naturally we did. But I had absolutely no idea what exactly I was spending 11 dollars a month on. I had no idea what my coverages were, what they covered or why I even needed them.

Soon after we signed our lease my sister wanted to write a renters policy for me and have it be through her agency. Of course I was up for it and let her but in the process she showed me exactly what the renters policy did and did not do and why the freak I even needed the dumb thing.

Making the switch was easy and simple, canceled the apartments insurance and sent them proof of my new insurance. It was costing me only a few dollars more per month but I was getting significantly higher coverages and also on top of that being educated on what in the heck the policy did.

The main things to note in a renters policy are the personal property coverage and the liability coverage. In my opinion this are the two most important things to look at. The personal property is exactly what it sounds like, it covers all of your personal property. If your apartment is burnt to the ground and destroys all of your belongings then your personal property coverage will jump in and replace it all. On my original policy with the apartment I had about $15,000 in coverage. High but not typical. Typically when I write a policy I give $25,000 or more in coverage. This was one jump in coverage I made.

The second change I made was to my liability coverage. With the apartment I believe I was at around $100,000 in coverage, again high but not enough. I now have $300,000 in coverage which still could be too low but is closer to what everyone should have. This liability coverage is put in place to cover any damage you cause to other surrounding apartments by your negligence. Lets say I leave the stove on and cause a fire, that fire is quickly put out by my sprinkler system inside of my apartment but now I have flooded the apartment and its seeping down into the apartments below. The worst part, I live on the third floor. Now not only have I flooded my own apartment but the other apartments below me. I am responsible for the damages to their apartments and most importantly the building! Think of how pricey the repairs could get. Thankfully though I am educated and have a high liability coverage limit that will cover me in this situation.

If you rent you should own a renters policy. For protection from being held responsible for damages you cause and to cover all of your valuable property that you have worked to get. The apartment is covering their buildings, they don't care about your stuff or about your future earning that could be lost in the event that you cause damage that isn't covered. They do not have your best interest at mind. Make sure that you do and that you agent does as well.

Anyone reading; I would love your feedback and to get some questions on what you want answered, feel free to share the post if you found it useful and be prepared for the worst!