Sometimes, people will refer to their landlord as their “renter.” While inaccurate, that sometimes creates confusion between landlord insurance and renters insurance. The renter, or lessee, is the person who lives in the rented premises, and the landlord, or lessor, is the person who owns those premises and holds them for rent. It’s important to know the difference between landlord insurance and renters insurance, and to make sure you’re getting the correct policy for your needs.
Since much of the rental housing in Eugene, OR is of the privately owned variety rather than the apartment complex variety, we’ll use a Eugene, OR Renters Insurance policy as an example. This information applies anywhere in the country, however.
Renters Insurance Vs. Landlord Insurance – What’s Covered?
Which Kind Of Insurance Covers Personal Property?
Renters insurance is what you think of as primarily protecting your property. It’s there in case your things are stolen, or there is another covered loss to your property. But it covers so much more than that. Renters insurance will replace your property, it’s true. But it also offers liability coverage in case you cause bodily injury or property damage to someone else or to the unit in which you live.
The benefit to liability coverage is that it doesn’t just pay the claim. It also pays to defend you against that claim, to ensure that you don’t have to fund the lawyer on your own. That also helps to keep claims without merit from being paid, which keeps costs down across the board for everyone.
What About Additional Living Expenses?
Renters insurance also covers loss of use. If there’s a covered loss to the residence premises, you’ll incur costs to stay elsewhere while repairs are being made or while you find a new apartment. Those costs are covered under your loss of use, or additional living expenses, coverage. What you don’t have is any coverage for the dwelling or structure itself. That’s because you don’t own it, so it’s not on you to cover it.
So What Does Landlord Insurance Cover?
Landlord insurance, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. There’s not much coverage, if any, for personal property in the residence because the landlord doesn’t have a great deal of personal property in the residence. Both types of policies share coverage for liability. But on landlord insurance, you’ll find coverage for the structure is available. Since the landlord owns the building, he has an insurable interest in the dwelling itself.
Renters Insurance Vs. Landlord Insurance: Which Is Right For You?
Renters Insurance Vs. Landlord Insurance – Insuring A Building You Don’t Own
Why Should I Insure My Apartment Building?
Many people who are looking for renters insurance wonder why they have to insure the landlord’s building. This is the classic renters insurance vs landlord insurance question, really – who needs to cover what? While you’re required by your landlord to have renters insurance, you’re not required to insure the building because you don’t own it. You are required to insure your own liability.
When Would I Be Responsible For Damage To The Building?
Why would you have any liability towards the landlord for the building? Any time that you’re responsible for damage to someone else’s property, you have potential liability. In this case, we’re not talking about damage that would be covered by your security deposit. That’s what security deposits are for, of course. If there’s damage to a carpet or a wall, that’s the sort of risk the landlord retains deposits for.
But The Landlord’s Insurance Pays For The Building And That’s It, Right?
If a fire that’s your fault displaces you in the middle of the night, as happens to so many families, will the landlord insurance covering the building be able to pay for the building? Of course it will, that’s what it’s there for. That’s not why you have renters insurance. Renters insurance is for what comes after landlord insurance pays for the building.
Since you’re at fault for this fire, the company that wrote the landlord insurance policy will pay the claim… And then come after you with the full force of the company and their lawyers. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have anything. They’ll get a judgement, and then they’ll lie in wait until the day when you do have something – anything – worth taking. Interest will continue to accrue, as well. That judgement can even be renewed after a period of years in many states.
How Does Renters Insurance Help If I’m At Fault?
If you have renters insurance, that story plays out a little differently. The company that paid for the claim on the building discusses the loss with your renters insurance company. They come to an agreement as to who is responsible for what, or perhaps they don’t. If there’s a lawsuit over it, the insurance companies pay the lawyers. All you have to do is cooperate when asked, and your involvement is usually pretty limited.
The best part is that Eugene, OR Renters Insurance is affordable. The average price is around fifteen dollars a month nationally, and you can get covered quickly and easily with Effective Coverage. Buy a policy in sixty seconds online, or ask all the questions you like of our insurance experts for renters! Just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Eugene, OR renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
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