Renters insurance covers your personal property and provides additional living expenses, but you knew that. Do you know what your property is protected from? You’ll find a list of perils in your policy. A “peril” is something that could damage your property. Since they’re named in the policy, this is called “coverage on a named perils basis”.
How well do you understand your policy? Have you given any thought to the perils it covers, like riot or civil commotion? When could you make a claim? What are you really protected against? Effective Coverage wants to make renters insurance easy. That includes making understanding your policy easy. It’s always important to read the policy, but advice from experts helps.
Let’s use a Dundalk, MD Renters Insurance policy as an example. There are almost a million renters in Maryland, and fifty-six percent don’t have renters insurance! We’ll look at some of the protections you get, and how easy it can be to get covered.
What Is The Peril Of Riot Or Civil Commotion? How Is It A Danger To My Property?
A riot or civil commotion is an insured peril under a standard renters insurance policy. A riot could cause damage or loss to your property in many ways. Fire is a covered peril, so is explosion. Theft is covered. Vandalism and malicious mischief are covered perils. But a riot is more – it involves a group of people out of control doing damage to anything they can.
The peril of riot or civil commotion is designed to encompass additional losses that might not fall under the specific perils. It’s also designed to cover situations that can’t be anticipated in a few precise words within an insurance policy.
How Does Renters Insurance Protect Me Against Riot Or Civil Commotion?

Riot Or Civil Commotion: Painful Perils Explained Easily
Given that your home falls victim to a riot or civil commotion, every type of loss you suffer might not be listed in the policy. If a stray bullet goes through your television, that might not be a covered loss. It’s not vandalism if it was poorly aimed at someone and hit your TV instead. Including the peril of riot or civil commotion ensures that you have coverage for the additional losses that come with such scenarios.
Having a single peril to cover riot or civil commotion also has the benefit of allowing you to make a single claim for the losses associated with the event. That means you pay one deductible, get one check, and move on with your life. You get new replacement property, and a large crisis becomes less of a burden on your family.
Do I Have To Try To Stop The Loss?
If you have Dundalk, MD Renters Insurance and there’s a riot or civil commotion, trying to stop the loss is probably the last thing you should do. Your safety is most important, and there is no reason for you to make yourself known to the mob outside. That invites unnecessary danger. You’re not equipped to mitigate this kind of loss.
What’s Not Covered?
We suppose that a riot or civil commotion could turn into an insurrection. That would be an act of undeclared war, and might not be covered. For that to be the case, the government would have to declare it to be an insurrection. That’s highly unlikely to ever occur within the US. Just a hypothetical.
If you take part in the riot or civil commotion, the damage to your property is arguably the result of your intentional act. That would prevent you from claiming coverage for your losses. The people who need to make a claim after a riot are not generally the same as the ones who cause the problems, so this is a rare situation.
Should I Consider Extra Coverages Or Endorsements For Better Protection Against Riot Or Civil Commotion?
Jewelry is often covered theft at a level as low as $1,000. Other perils don’t have that sublimit for jewelry, of course. You can change that, though. Check our our Renters Insurance Jewelry Coverage Guide. You’re already covered for a wide variety of other perils as well as riot or civil commotion.
Now is a great time to make sure you know how much coverage you have. Is it enough? Do a home inventory to be sure – just add up the value of everything in your home and compare it to your policy limits. You can get a renters insurance policy and get expert advice on your policy easily. Just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Dundalk, MD renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
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