Why You Need Renters Insurance

Review your renters insurance policy every time you move.

As a military family member you might be asking yourself these 3 questions when it comes to renters insurance.

1. Do I need renters insurance if I live in military housing?

2. What are the benefits of the coverage?

3. How often should I increase my coverage?

Let’s start with the first question: do you need renters insurance?

The answer is YES!

Renters insurance will cover your personal belongings, in the case of a fire, theft or other type of event that causes them to get destroyed. Some policies will even cover things such as food that spoiled during a power outage. It also can cover events where someone has an accident in your home and wants to sue you. It doesn’t cost very much every month and can be very valuable if something does happen. Check with your car insurance company, you might be able to get a discount to add renters insurance to your account.

Benefits of Renters Insurance

If you live off post and rent a home, you need renters insurance. Whether you are in an apartment, condo or single family home, it doesn’t matter. You just never know what might happen and you want to be prepared. If you lost everything (television, furniture, electronics, clothes) in a fire it would be a significant financial burden to replace everything without this type of insurance. You would have to start over. With renters insurance you would at least have the money to do so.

We never experienced a fire or major theft when we were renting, but I always liked knowing that we were prepared if we had. We did had our electricity go out for 36 hours. Our food went bad and all I had to do was call my insurance company, tell them what we lost and they sent us a check. It wasn’t a ton of money, but it was nice to not have to go out and spend the money to replace the food ourselves.

Do you need renters insurance if you live in military housing?

If you live on post, you might want to check and see what is covered. In most cases it would be best to have renters insurance even if you do live in military housing. It might just depend on where you live and what the duty station has decided to do.

When Should You Increase Your Coverage

Once you have renters insurance, it is a good idea to update anytime you buy a large item. You also want to update if you move, especially if you are moving to a different state.

Remember too that it really doesn’t cost that much to have this type of insurance so there is really no reason not to have it. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you regret not getting it set up.

What questions do you have regarding renters insurance?