Friday, January 2, 2009

The Significance of Home Insurance and Renters Insurance

By Thomas Fraser

If you own a home you should have home owners insurance. If you rent your home, you should have renters insurance. If you do not insure your home and its contents, you could lose it in the event of a tragedy, or at the hands of a burglar, or due to a natural disaster.

Insurance can help you to replace the things that you have lost due to a natural disaster, fire, flood, or even theft. If you are buying a home you are required to have home owners insurance. If you are a renter many landlords do require it, but even if they do not you should have it, as their insurance does not cover your property.

You should have your property insured for replacement value. In the case of your home that should be what the cost would be to rebuild your home. As for contents for both renters and owners that should be what it would cost to replace the items in your home such as furnishings and appliances. If you have collections of fine art, jewelry or other collectibles you should have them itemized and have appraisals or receipts for these items.

Do not leave things to chance whether you are a home renter or a home owner. Be prepared for the unexpected. You can help to lower insurance rates by having an alarm system, updated windows and doors with good locks. Having smoke detectors and fire extinguishers also is a help. Insure for the price to rebuild your home and replace its contents.

Often if you have one insurance company to cover all of your needs such as Auto, Home and Life, you can get a bigger discount. Be sure to shop around. Make sure to get appraisals and keep receipts for all purchases you make so that they can be presented to the insurance company. These should be kept in a fire-proof lock box or safe.

Make sure that your insurance covers replacement costs of all personal property and for home owners the cost of rebuilding your home. The land does not need to be covered. If you have other insurance through a company you often can get a discount by adding other types of insurance through them such as Life and Auto. Insurance is your safety net. You need it whether you are renting or buying your home, or even if you own it outright. You do not want to end up homeless, and without clothes, or furniture to fill another home if you are renting. There are things that can never be replaced such as your memories, and things that had sentimental value, but you can be prepared to make a fresh start if you need to. - 16069

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