Do you rent an apartment or a house? Are you happy with the freedom renting provides, or are you saving for your own property but not ready to commit yet? Or perhaps you are in between college and work, sharing with roommates? No matter why you are renting, if you don’t own your own home, you need to think about renters insurance.
Renting in New Jersey is no longer the cheap option it once was. Surveys show it is increasingly one of the most expensive places to rent a property. And if you’re spending a lot of cash on monthly rent, you probably don’t feel like shelling out more for rental insurance. But skip this step and it could cost you thousands of dollars.
Don’t believe us? Read on to find out some compelling reasons to take out renters insurance in NJ.
Reasons to Choose Renters Insurance
Renters insurance covers your personal property when you are a tenant, and provides liability cover for you and your dependents. It is a vitally important financial commitment. Yet according to a new study reported by Forbes, over half of adults aged 23 to 29 years old who rent haven’t taken out renters insurance.
Still unconvinced?
1. You Need Your Own Policy
Your landlord’s policy doesn’t protect you. They have taken out insurance for the structure of the building, the roof, the fittings. But your property is not covered. Therefore, if something happens to your goods, you won’t get a penny back since the landlord is probably not that interested in replacing your TV or paying for a new bed.
2. Renters Insurance Covers You For Theft
NJ is not the safest area in the world. It’s not a warzone, but burglaries regularly take place in the state. What would happen if someone broke into your home and stole everything? Your landlord, nice though they may be, would probably not care. You’d have to replace everything out of your own pocket. Even getting a solid burglar alarm won’t necessarily deter determined thieves. You have to protect yourself with insurance.
3. You’re Covered For Named Perils
If you’re not sure what a named peril exactly is, you’re not alone. But it’s pretty common terminology in the insurance universe. Named perils include natural disasters like hurricanes and storms, or fire and flood. The types of perils and the number covered vary between insurers but renters insurance NJ covers all of the most common dangers, and many of the least common ones, too.
4. You’re Covered If You Break Something
So, you sent a football through your window. Your kids accidently set fire to the carpet. These things happen. Luckily, with renters insurance you get money back to pay your landlord for the damage to their property. Insurance won’t necessarily stop these kinds of things happening again, but at least you won’t have to spend much fixing it all up.
5. It Doesn’t Break the Bank
Maybe you’re not looking for the financial commitment of a mortgage just yet and that’s fine. But if you can afford a few pizzas a month, you can probably afford renters insurance. There are some incredibly affordable options out there, and you don’t need to compromise on cover to get a cheap deal. Consider how much money is tied up in your possessions. Think about whether you could afford to replace them should something terrible happen. If you can’t, you need insurance.
6. Your Cover is Versatile
You don’t have to stick to a prescribed plan and take out cover you don’t need. If you have few possessions, your premiums will probably be lower. And if you end up investing in more valuable goods, you can easily change your policy to reflect this. No one should be stuck with a plan that doesn’t meet their needs. It’s a highly versatile form of insurance – and you can easily cancel it if you move into a mortgaged place.
7. Your Landlord Might Demand It
Most landlords in NJ ask you to insure yourself and your property when you move in, or when you renew your lease. They don’t want any hassles if something happens to your things. They may also need you to include them as an interested party, which means you can’t cancel your insurance as soon as you have provided them with proof of your payment.
8. Receive Cash If You Need to Stay Somewhere Else
If your home is hit by floods, or you are relocated out of a windstorm area, insurance covers you for the cost of spending the week at a temporary location. You may also be able to claim for other items like food and laundry bills.
Photo by Jarek Ceborski
About the Author/s
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
