Insurance for Tenants

Landlords have relatively few legal obligations to compensate tenants for damage to or loss of their tenants' personal possessions. Tenants, on the other hand, are responsible for harm they may cause to any part of the building in which they live, or to others who live or visit there. A fire ignited by a tenant's defective toaster could, for example, gut an entire apartment complex. That's a lot of liability!

If you've just moved into your first apartment, you may think you haven't accumulated anything of real value yet. Think again! A small amount of furniture may not look as if it's worth much, but when you have to replace it with something new, it could break your budget. If you've bought a CD player or furniture on credit, and it's destroyed by fire or stolen, you're still responsible for paying the balance to your creditor, even though you now don't have the item. That can hurt, too!

Tenants can choose from a variety of insurance policies that remove much of the worry from renting.

Tenant's improvements coverage is important because policies generally have standard limits that are sometimes not high enough to cover all of the improvements that you may have made to your rented home or apartment. Such improvements could include broadloom, built-in cabinets or sound systems. For these you may need additional coverage.