Please...Get Renter's Insurance

For those of you who don't know me...I'm a professional fireman. Last night I worked a fire in a small condo. The fire was contained to one unit. The fire was most likely an accident. The fire was out in minutes.

The fire destroyed everything in the unit. Anything that wasn't melted in the fire sustained heavy smoke damage. The person didn't have renter's insurance. The person is fucked. They've lost just about everything they own. Gone. Thanks for playing.

1. Renter's insurance is most often less than $200 a year.
2. You are not covered by your landlord's insurance policy.
3. Roommates can split the cost
4. Most major writers offer a payment plan

If you think it's a scam...you don't want to waste your money...it'll never happen to you....the lady who came home while we were sifting through the burnt pile of crap that used to be her home would certainly pay someone $200 now to get her home back.

If you rent...please...look into Renter's Insurance

That's something I don't have and I live with a roommate that forgets to turn most things off. hmmmm...

Imagine if someone steals everything you own,
or you have a fire like the one above,
or something as stupid as as a broken toilet overflowing in the unit above you (above your $2,500 computer)
or a frozen pipe bursting while you are away.

All of these things have happened to people I know. Those who had renter's insurance were OK, those who didn't were screwed.

i didn't have it until my landlord made me, i didn' realize how cheap it was, mine's 125 for a whole year

I'm pretty sure mine was exactly $50 each six months through farmers since I had some vehicles insured with them. do it, please.

Just FYI, most Renters Insurance covers ALL of your property(except your car). I have renters insurance and my Laptop was stolen from my office at work. My insurance covered the loss and sent me a check to replace my stolen computer and it wasn't even in my apartment.


So yes, GET RENTERS INSURANCE!!

most renter's insurance policies will also cover your shit if it gets stolen out of your car, at least mine does. my policy costs about $20 a month so it's definitely worth it if anything does happen. also having renter's insurance got me a discount on my car insurance.

My renters insurance is awesome. I have State Farm insurance and having both renters insurance and auto insurance, they give me a "multi-line" discount. Also, because my roommate/boyfriend Bean also has State Farm insurance for auto and renters, they give both of us another discount. It rocks.

Oh yeah, and our renters insurance is about $8 a month each, and covers everything we have.

[Edited on Dec 10, 2005 by Shalome]

i'm paying extra for zero deductible and extra coverage for all of my home electronics and computer gear.

Done, mainly because my girlfriend talked me into it.

Reading your story, I'm glad she did.

renter's insurance covers anything that could possibly happen to your stuff, ever. really, it's a deal.

I'm actually going to go look into this now. Thanks for the reminder.

Cash, you do good work.

The building next to mine had a fire about 2 years ago. 8 of the 19 apartments are gone to quick. If a dude who lived near by hadn't had insomnia, and had't been out for a walk at 3:00am, it would have been a disaster. He pounded on everyones doors and got them out. Even then, some on the second story had to jump out windows as the stairs were ablaze.

Unfortunately, one person died. He was the one responsible for the fire. He had a heart attack in the parking lot. You see, he had heart desease from smoking. He had Emphasima from smoking. He was on oxygen. He tried smoking with the oxygen on.

Boom.

Gonna look into that renters insurance. These buildings can go quick.

I have my renter's and auto insurance through AAA, so I get discounts. I think I pay about $10/month for $20,000 worth of coverage. $20,000 can EASILY replace everything I own, including the stuff in my car (stereo, etc). The insurance agent told me to overestimate because people often forget that every little thing adds up. I took pictures of every room and put them on a CD my parents have because I know I'll forget about things if everything is reduced to ash and rubble.

I have Allstate and it's super cheap. A sound investment indeed. Though I wish Earthquake insurance wasn't so pricey. That might be nice to have.

Damn, I'm going to have to look into that. It sounds like a great deal from what you all said. Hopefully I won't procrastinate with this.

Renter's Insurance more often than not also covers all your jewelry. So if you are out and lose a stone from a ring, that is covered.

It really does cover just about everything.

It really is amazing how fast & extensive fire and smoke ruin things. This particular fire was only burning for a few minutes...but everything...everything was blackened with soot...even the inside of the closets in the backroom. The windows melted out of the frames, the TV melted...even the metal numbers on the front door melted.

Fire doubles in size for every minute that it burns uninhibited. So that four or five room apartment is going to be one big bonfire inside of 5 minutes.

It's going ot take you at least a minute to figure out what's going on...another minute to catch your composure, call 911, and give them the information and another minute for 911 to contact the fire department & give the information.

If you're lucky and live in a town with a full-time, paid fire department...it will only take them about a minute to get the call, gear up and be on their way to your house. Then, it's at least 2-3 minutes to get to your house. Then another minute or so to set up hoses & get water.

So, from the time you realize your apartment is on fire...until the fire department is at your door ready to fight that fire...you're looking at a minimum of 7 minutes. 7 minutes = all of your shit has been reduced to carbon.

I keep telling myself that when I move I'm going to get it, but then I forget.