What Renter's Insurance Does Not Cover

By Author: Frank Kasimov
Total Articles: 4762
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Renter's insurance often comes up for debate, and you need to decide whether you are going to take out this insurance when you are renting a house from a landlord. When you are a renter, the property owner will have some insurance on the building but nothing that belongs to you will be covered. You will also not be covered by the landlord should something happen and the rental unit ceases to be habitable for a period of time, forcing you to seek temporary accommodation elsewhere. This in itself is one of the reasons why you need to spend the money getting renter's insurance, as this cost can be huge. Imagine having to find somewhere else for you and your family to live with the added stress of this coming hot on the heels of some disaster befalling your current home.

However, there are certain elements that are not covered under renter's insurance. You need to be aware of these elements and weigh whether these are potential problems for you. You must decide whether you can afford to ignore these risks and not have a rider put on your policy to cover them. One prime example of something that generally isn't covered by ...
... the renter's insurance is flooding. Lots of people shrug and think that they are not in an area prone to flooding so why worry about it? The key point that gets overlooked is that flooding insurance covers the internal plumbing of the house failing and the drains getting backed up.

Now the owner of the property may be covered for the structure of the property, although you and your family may well have to move out. However, it is guaranteed that you will not receive a single dollar for anything of yours that was damaged by the water. Tables, chairs, rugs, you name it-if it belongs to you then the owner isn't liable. If you don't have renter's insurance that includes flood damage, you won't be able to claim either. Sadly, pipe work failure is a common issue and one that really isn't worth taking a risk over, so it is definitely worth getting this added to the policy.

The other common thing that doesn't get included on renter's insurance policies is an earthquake, and this time you do have more of a decision. This is as it sounds. For some homes, the likelihood of earthquakes striking really are quite mild so you probably can afford to be left uninsured. However, if you are living in an area that has historically had earthquakes, even minor, then you really should be considering getting this coverage built into your insurance policy as again nothing you own will be covered by the policy the owner has.

You should also be checking the level of coverage offered by your renter's insurance when it comes to high value items if you own any. Unless these are evidenced and inventoried separately, you could lose out when it comes to replacing them. Any antique items or high-value collectibles must be named, photographed and valued in advance to ensure that you get the amount of coverage you need should anything happen to any of them.

Finally, remember that this is home renter's insurance; therefore, if you work from home or have any business equipment stored at home, you will not be covered for these. If you do run your business from home, you need to be looking at either separate business insurance or getting a rider put into your policy that means they are covered. Yes, this will cost you slightly more but at the end of the day, you are insuring both your home and business and need to weigh this against the cost of replacing all your items should something happen. You also have to consider the sense of having insurance that doesn't meet your need and still leaves you short of money if you do need to make a claim.

The bottom line is that you must make sure you have really looked into the insurance policy before you sign on the dotted line. You should fully understand what is and isn't covered. If you aren't sure or can't see something you expect to see then ask before committing as it can save headaches and disappointments later on. Don't rely on the building insurance that the property owner will have, as your belongings are not covered under his policy. You do need to have your own policy or you are going to be left in deep water.
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