Maison Magazine

Additional Coverage I n addition to the basics, there are a few other types of coverage to know about. If a visitor suffers an injury in your home, your policy's "medical payments to oth- ers" coverage will take care of the medical bills, regardless of who is at fault. "Credit card and bank forgery" coverage will pro- tect against some monetary fraud attempts, such as if a burglar steals your credit card or check book during a break-in to run up fraudulent charges or write forged checks. And "property of others" coverage replaces not only your belongings, but others'—for example, if you borrow a friend's laptop, and a leaking pipe destroys it. Often times owners will ask that certain types of "ag- gressive" dogs be covered by the renter's in- surance. There are only a few companies out there that provide this type of pet insurance, but it could mean the difference in getting the rental home of your dreams—or not. Also, while it is required by most landlords to obtain written permission prior to erecting a trampoline, a little due diligence could im- prove your chances of them agreeing to your request. Additional insurance is required for this sort of thing, do your homework prior to asking for permission by contacting your insurance agent and getting the facts and fees. Of course you will be responsible for carrying this insurance and paying for it—if the landlord agrees to it. How much coverage do I need? Many landlords require their tenants to have a minimum of $100K in liability cov- erage. If your landlord doesn't have this guideline, talk to an insurance agent to de- termine how much coverage you need. For property damage coverage, one of the first questions the agent will ask you is how much your stuff is worth. While that seems like a simple question, when you really start to think through what it would cost to replace everything in your home, it can get tricky. But a good rule of thumb, and what basic policies cover, is $30,000 to $50,000 for apartments and around $100,000 for homes. More importantly, even if you can't put a dollar sign on all that you have, take pho- tos or videos of your place and your most important belongings. This way, in case of a catastrophe, you'll have a record of ev- erything and can think through how much everything is worth at that point. I need this! Where do I get a policy—and how much will it cost? First, contact the insurance company that provides your auto insurance—most will give you great discounts if you bundle both pol- icies. If they don't offer renter's insurance or if you want to shop around, check out www.insureme.com. Prices will vary by state, liability limits, and the personal property values you want to cover, but a basic poli- cy—$30,000 of personal property coverage, $100,000 of liability, and a $500 or $1,000 deductible—should only cost you $10 to $15 bucks a month. Let's face it—that's a small price to pay for the peace of mind it provides and the cov- erage you'll wish you would've had in a disaster.

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