Huntington Beach, CA Renters Insurance protects your personal property and pays for additional living expenses after a covered loss. But do you know what a covered loss is? It’s a loss to your personal property covered by one of the named perils listed in your policy. If one of those causes of loss damages or destroys your property, you can make a claim.
Do you know all of the things that your renters insurance covers? Most people haven’t given much thought to the perils. In fact, most people buy renters insurance and then simply assume that they’re covered. Effective Coverage works to educate policyholders about coverage. We believe that understanding your policy helps you to select the correct coverage for your lifestyle.
What Is The Renters Insurance Peril Of Vehicles (Not Your Own)? How Is It A Danger To My Property?
Renters insurance protects your property against the risk of damage from vehicles (not your own.) Let’s break down what that means, first. Damage caused to your personal property by a vehicle is covered, unless you own or control the vehicle. Driving into the shelf in your garage and damaging the things on it is not covered. But if someone else drives a vehicle into your home or apartment, that’s a covered loss.
This isn’t just about drunk drivers. It’s not something that you only have to worry about if you live on the first floor, either. A vehicle striking a building can cause structural damage. Even if your personal property isn’t damaged, you might not be able to use your apartment. The structure has to be evaluated and repairs may need to be made. Loss of use can cover you additional living expenses.
Vehicles aren’t just passenger cars, however. Is there construction going on in your building? A mobile crane could be considered a vehicle. If there’s an accident and the crane collapses, you’d want coverage for your personal property. The construction company’s liability coverage would pay actual cash value for your property. You want replacement cost. That’s why you file a claim on your policy and allow your insurance to recover from the responsible party.
How Does Renters Insurance Protect Me From Vehicles?
Vehicles (Not Your Own): Painful Perils Explained Easily
If there’s a loss involving a vehicle that causes damage to your property, there’s coverage. You won’t have to live in a building that’s being evaluated for safety. You won’t have to pay for your own hotel while all of that is happening. You also won’t have to worry about recovering your losses from the person who caused them.
If the person driving the car had no insurance, you won’t be able to recover from their policy. If the driver was excluded from the policy, you can’t recover. If the driver had state minimum limits, you probably won’t be able to recover. A large loss and low limits means the limits are split between everyone impacted. That’s why you file a claim against your own renters insurance policy when there’s damage from vehicles. Your policy is designed to protect you by shielding you from the recovery process. Simply file a Huntington Beach, CA Renters Insurance claim and move on with your life.
How Can I Be Sure I’m Covered?
Vehicles (not your own) is a standard peril covered by most policies. You’ll find it in the “perils insured against” section of the policy document. Once y0u’ve identified coverage for the peril, make sure you have enough coverage for your stuff. You can do that in three simple steps.
First, make sure that you have replacement cost coverage listed on your declarations page. This means you’ll get the amount of money you need to go buy new property to replace what suffered the loss. If you only have actual cash value coverage, you’ll just get what those things are worth today after depreciation. That’s not very much money, and definitely not enough to go buy new things.
After that, add up everything you own. Complete a home inventory to make sure you’ll be able to identify all your property in the event of a claim. Add up the retail cost of everything on that home inventory. That’s the total amount you should be insured for. Many people round up to avoid being underinsured, and that’s probably a good idea.
The last step is to check the personal property coverage on the declarations page of your policy. Check out our article on how to read a renters insurance declarations page. If you need more coverage, contact your insurance company and ask for more coverage. Better yet, take sixty seconds and make sure you’re not paying too much for your renters insurance! That’s right, Effective Coverage can compare and give you a quote in one minute. Just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need California renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
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