How much do you pay for renter's insurance?

[duragezic]

The apartment I'm moving into requires renter's insurance. Not a big deal, as now that I have a job I might have gotten it anyway.

I have my car insurance through Geico so I thought I could get renter's insurance added and end up with a discount on my auto so that the renter's insurance would be almost nothing extra. I'm not sure I entered it right (I did enter my Geico policy #) but it didn't seem to give any discount and was $129/yr for $10,000 personal property coverage, $50k liability, $500 deductible.

Which is definitely reasonable. I just thought it'd be almost nothing extra due to multi policy discount. For $10/mo I can just get it through the apt complex.

What do you all pay for similar coverage? Did it result in a lower car insurance premium if you have it through the same provider?

 

[Shawn]

around $130 a year

 

[duragezic]

Yeah pretty standard.

I just went through the Geico quote several times. I selected None for other policies I have (even though I have auto through them) and it was still $129. If I selected No for "Does your lease terms require tenants to have renter's insurance?" then it goes up to $147.

That's weak. I thought all the insurance companies were all about getting you with as many policies as possible and thus give you discounts when you have more than one.

 

[EagleKeeper]

$10-$15/month for about $15K coverage

 

[GeekDrew]

I have auto and renters through Nationwide. When I added renters (to my then auto-only policy), the net monthly price dropped.

 

[Krynj]

I meant to make a thread about this earlier. I've been looking into a lot lately as well.

My girlfriend and I have been thinking about renter's insurance for a while now. Policies seem beyond reasonably priced. But I've heard some stories thought about people having an extremely hard time making claims. Seems like there isn't much stopping somebody from saying "Yeah, somebody broke in and stole my plasma, PS3, and computer. Give me some new shit!" How do the claims work, and do the insurance companies actually help you out in the event of theft or fire? Or do they find tons of loopholes to fuck you over? We've been meaning to get setup with renter's insurance for a while, so I've been saving receipts on just about anything I buy valued over $50-$100.

 

[duragezic]

Well I think at the least you need a police report. I haven't really heard a lot of issues on claims, though I haven't actually looked into it much. I thought it'd be like homeowner's insurance, which seems like it helps you out fairly and without hassle.

I don't think you need receipts though. I was thinking of getting the $10k coverage. But tallying up everything I only have about $5k so maybe I can goto $7-8k coverage. I have to get $50k (lowest) of liability coverage with it too.

It's pretty reasonably priced but like an above poster said, I thought sure it would only cost a little more or even drop my entire bill to Geico than just auto. Instead it doesn't make a difference.

 

[duragezic]

Well my internet went out while trying some quotes so I called and apparently I would get an auto discount (I think he said 8&#37 but not till my next premium was due.

Er that was 3% discount on my auto. Oh well. The damn thing has been rising and rising every 6 months even with no claims so I'm probably gonna bounce from Geico in November when it's up.

 

[Bignate603]

I paid around $130 a year when I had renter's insurance. I knew a few people that had it and used it, they didn't seem to have any real issues making claims. However, their claims were for smoke damage after another unit had a minor fire. They had all the stuff for the adjuster to look at, it was just damaged. They didn't really need to prove that they actually owned it through receipts and things.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

I paid around $130 a year when I had renter's insurance. I knew a few people that had it and used it, they didn't seem to have any real issues making claims. However, their claims were for smoke damage after another unit had a minor fire. They had all the stuff for the adjuster to look at, it was just damaged. They didn't really need to prove that they actually owned it through receipts and things.

Technically I don't even think you would need renters insurance for that. I would think the owner/tenant of the of the other unit would be liable.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Depends largely on where you live. In Denver, I paid ~$100 per year for ~$20,000 coverage with $1000 deductible. Allstate.