At first glance it would seem that every person that rents a place to live would immediately go out and get themselves some renters insurance. Because what would happen if there were a fire or flood, or somebody broke in and took all their stuff? But this isn’t what happens; statistics show that very few people that rent bother to buy renters insurance, and those that do wind up feeling ripped off.
Why is this?
The problem with renters insurance, or any other insurance for that matter, is that it only pays off if something bad happens, and bad things only happen to a small portion of the population. This causes people to start believing in the back of their mind that it never will happen to them, and thus, they ignore the advertisements to buy renters insurance.
To be clear, renters insurance is a policy that people buy, just as they would insurance for their car, or home if they had one. The policy covers the stuff that you own that is in or on the property you are renting. Thus, if there is a fire and all your stuff gets burned up, you get a check from the insurance company to help you pay for buying new stuff to replace the old.
One of the holdups is that people tend to think their stuff isn’t worth the price of insurance. And while this might be true, in the event of a total loss, some money to help you get back on your feet is a lot better than none. Also, many policies have minimum amounts that will be paid regardless of what your stuff is worth.
Another problem is people fear that they will wind up looking like a fool if they pay renters insurance for many years and then wind up buying a house later on, which means they will never recoup any of that money they paid in premiums. This is clearly backwards thinking, the insurance is in case it does happen, not because you expect it to so that you can get back the money you paid.
But the real reason people should get renters insurance is because fires and other losses are truly devastating. To find yourself suddenly with nothing in the whole world but the clothes you’re wearing and your car is truly a horrendous thing to happen to someone; especially someone who doesn’t have a lot of money sitting in a savings account.
If you are a renter, consider what you would do if your apartment building burned to the ground today while you are at work. How would you buy new clothes, or toiletries, or pay for a hotel to stay in while looking for a new place. How would you afford to replace all your stuff? If you don’t have the answer, then you really need to get yourself some renters insurance, just in case something does happen.