Happy New Year, Stay Safe In 2016! Img ©
There’s more to a happy and safe 2016 than that, of course.
At Home
To stay safe at home, you should follow all of the old safety tips. They’re just as valid as they ever were – when you change your clocks, change your smoke detector batteries, for instance. Make sure your doors are locked. Never turn away from something on the stove. All of the things you’ve heard before, but now is a great time to implement them,
But those are all measures that reduce and mitigate risk. They don’t eliminate it entirely. They certainly don’t eliminate risk when you don’t know if your neighbors are following the same common sense ideas to make their home safe, as well. Since a fire in your neighbor’s apartment is as dangerous as a fire in your own apartment, it makes sense to get renters insurance in Scottsdale to protect you against the risks you can’t see or take any action to mitigate.
There are also questionable home safety tips floating around out there. One “expert” suggests that you hide valuables in your child’s sock drawer. Because, now that’s been published, no thief will ever look there. And the child would never find that heirloom jewelry and play with it and lose it. And a teenager would never spend the emergency cash you’ve got stowed there. Not the greatest tip, we think.
But there’s only so much you can do to protect yourself and your family. Sometimes, things just happen.
If there were a fire, your renters insurance gives you replacement cost coverage for the things that were lost in the fire. It also covers you for the costs associated with the fire if you’re responsible for it, so that you don’t have to pay for the damage to the building and property of neighbors. Don’t forget you’ll have loss of use coverage, as well, to pay for a hotel after the loss.
If someone parks a car in your living room – it’s a surprisingly frequent occurrence, unfortunately – what would you do? You’d want any personal property that was damaged to be replaced, you’d want to stay in a hotel, and you’d want to make sure that the building was structurally sound (and the car removed) before you came back home. Renters insurance can help with that loss, because vehicles (not your own) are a covered peril that would trigger both personal property and loss of use coverage.
The vehicle example is particularly important because most of America has no idea how to choose auto insurance limits. They drive around with the state minimum coverage of $10,000 property damage liability. If they park their car in your living room, do you think $10,000 is going to be enough coverage to repair the building and pay for the damages to your things? Not a chance. That’s why you file a claim under your policy, get yourself made whole, and let the insurance companies fight it out from there.
What happens if someone falls in your apartment? If a guest falls over a child’s toy, or their feet just go out from under them for no reason? Who pays for that injury? Generally, you do. That’s why renters insurance in Scottsdale includes both liability coverage for the larger at-fault incidents and medical payments to others coverage for smaller incidents. Your liability coverage will even defend you against the suit if there is one over the matter.
That defense coverage saves thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dollars because it can take years and a great deal of legal wrangling at great cost even to settle or make a liability claim go away without payment. The insurance company takes on that risk so that you don’t have to. See our article about duty to defend for more information on this valuable coverage that’s automatically part of your policy.
You’ve seen the weather so far this winter. It’s been… Odd, at best. Snow where there shouldn’t be snow, tornadoes where there shouldn’t even be thunderstorms this time of year, floods, you get the idea. While a minimal risk, did you know that renters insurance covers damage from the weight of snow and ice? If the snow and ice damage the roof and your personal property suffers a loss as a result, you could have coverage for that.
It also covers if you forget to clear your walk and someone slips in the snow and ice. That’s a larger risk, especially in places that aren’t used to having to deal with snow and ice.
There are a wide variety of ways that renters insurance can help you have a happy and healthy and prosperous 2016. But in order for any of them to apply, you’ll need to make sure that you have coverage. Buying renters insurance is far easier than it used to be, and it doesn’t require shopping around all day anymore, you can get affordable renters insurance in just sixty seconds by clicking above.
You don’t even have to call anyone if you don’t want to. But you could. Effective Coverage offers insurance experts for renters who are there to answer the hard questions about your coverage and help you get a policy that protects you at the right price. Insurance policies are long and complex, so feel free to ask all the questions you like. You can call or click, you’ll get the same great coverage quickly and at the right price.
The time to buy renters insurance is before a loss happens, of course, and since you never know when a loss will happen, that time is now. All you have to do is call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Scottsdale renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
Effective Coverage offers the nation's only completely mobile platform to quote and purchase renters insurance right from your phone or tablet in just one minute. Get an online renters insurance quote today and protect your family.
What's Your Style?
- Do You Need Coverage ASAP? Check out the fastest way to buy renters insurance online and get covered in just 60 seconds!
- Do You Feel Like Talking About It? Just call Effective Coverage and a renters insurance expert can help you get great coverage in minutes.
- Do You Need Some Time Alone With Your Thoughts? We understand, which is why we created the Arizona Guide To Renters Insurance.
- Just Want To Watch A Movie Together? See our video guide below.
Photo Credit: Christopher Michel New Years CC BY 2.0