If a caveman can do it, anyone can.
It seems anyone can get insurance on anything. Bruce Springsteen has his voice insured for $6 million, while Dolly Parton has insured her most famous assets for $600,000.
However, renter’s insurance is sometimes forgotten. For anyone who is renting a house, apartment or condo, renter’s insurance can save valuables for a low price in the event of an emergency.
According to Insurance Counselors Inc., those renting a place of residence can have liability coverage of $20,000 for personal property, $100,000 for personal liability and $1,000 for medical payments to each person harmed in an accident.
That alone totals $121,000 worth of coverage, and the renter only pays approximately $100 a year for it.
This may seem like an obvious choice, but some people do not consider this when thinking of renter’s insurance.
Mark Bertus, a professor in finance, said renter’s insurance has only one major downfall.
“The downside to renter’s insurance, as most people see, is that it’s hard to internalize the benefit,” Bertus said. “To internalize the benefit means that you’re going to get robbed. A lot of people put a low probability on the fact that they’re going to get robbed until they actually get robbed.”
Bertus said most renters only look at the cost per month or per year without taking into consideration how much it would cost to replace their belongings if something were to happen to them.
In the event of an apartment getting robbed, the renter would have to pay out of pocket for anything of value that was stolen, including televisions, computers, furniture, gaming systems and MP3 players. That could total several thousand dollars. But a renter with renter’s insurance would be saved with that $20,000 of personal property coverage.
Lindsey LaMarque, a senior in early childhood education, does not have renter’s insurance, but has spoken with someone about it.
“I think it is a good idea,” LaMarque said. “It is definitely a concern for me because I realize that you must always be prepared because anything could happen.”
Bertus said anyone at anytime can get renter’s insurance and it would not be a bad idea to save for it.
“It’s easy to obtain, and it has a very low premium,” Bertus said. “People don’t think about things like their television set, laptop or iPod and how expensive it can be to replace those. To actually insure them with renter’s insurance does not take much at all.”
With the constant surge in technology, Bertus added the low premium cost would be worth it.
“The premiums that you take a month are very small, maybe $25-30 a month,” Bertus said. “Some of these kids now are getting plasma TVs worth $3,000, iPods that can cost you $200 or a laptop that costs $2,000. These are just a few items we’re talking about. It just does not make any sense to not protect yourself in that regard.”
Everett Duke, a junior in business management, has renter’s insurance after his mother told him to buy it.
“Ever since I’ve been in an apartment, I’ve had renter’s insurance,” Duke said. “You basically tell the company how much stuff you want covered and they will tell you how much money to pay them per month.”
Duke said he pays approximately $15 per month for his valuables.
The holiday season is rapidly approaching, and most students will be leaving Auburn to spend time in their hometown with family. Bertus said this is a time when break-ins are likely to occur.
“When you think about Christmas time, when the need becomes greater with the most pressure is on having presents and getting money, people are going out of town, and you have a lot of units that are unoccupied at that time,” Bertus said. “The probability of getting robbed increases significantly.”
No matter where someone lives, the value of their possessions does not change. You do not have to be a homeowner to protect your home.
