Andrea, who has a San Antonio, TX Renters Insurance policy, brings us today’s question. She just moved into her apartment and has a rather wet situation for us to look at. So, Andrea writes us to ask,
How long do I need to have renters insurance before I can file a claim? My neighbor upstairs wasn’t supervising her toddler, and she decided to see what would happen if she flushed a sweater down the toilet. Needless to say, all of that water poured straight down into my apartment and did quite a bit of damage. Will my renters insurance deny my claim because of that?
A common question we get is how long do I need to have renters insurance before I can submit a claim. The answer can depend on your situation, so let’s take a deeper look with the renters insurance experts.
Andrea, first of all, we’re sorry you had to meet your new neighbor this way. That doesn’t sound like a recipe for a friendly over the fence (or ceiling, as it were) relationship with the neighbor. Nonetheless, you want to know how long you need to have renters insurance before you can file a claim. So, let’s take a look. First of all, your renters insurance in San Antonio will cover a claim on day one if necessary. The important thing is that the loss cannot have occurred before the policy was in force. Obviously, renters insurance agents are under restrictions as to where they can write new coverage, decrease deductibles, and the like just before a hurricane. Some carriers will put policies into effect at 12:01 AM the next day to mitigate this concern. As long as the policy was in force before the loss occurred, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve had the policy.
Renters Insurance
So why does that matter? There’s no time frame written into the policy, per se. The policy doesn’t have a clause that addresses how long you need to have renters insurance before you can file a claim. What the policy does have is an insurance carrier staffed by underwriters, actuaries, and claims adjusters who are willing to help. Despite the endless phone tree, those people in the claims department are there to look at your Texas renters insurance policy, as well as the totality of the circumstances. They then make decisions as to whether there is coverage, whether the loss reasonably occurred after the policy was in force, and so on.
How Long Do I Need To Have Renters Insurance Before I Can File A Claim?
The ultimate answer to your question is that the loss needs to have occurred after the time and date that the policy was enforced. As long as those criteria are met, the adjuster will ensure that your claim is legitimate, possibly investigate the date or time of the loss – your neighbor can likely give you a pretty good idea on this – and make a decision based on all of the above. In order to ensure the legitimacy of a claim, there could potentially be a bit of investigation. After all, insurance companies wouldn’t be able to pay for actual losses if their claims reserve was eaten up by false claims.
Did your renters insurance company give you a binder or some other way to prove time and date of inception? Effective Coverage automatically sends emails and communicates these details to your leasing office so that there’s no uncertainty. That’s just another bonus from working with the renters insurance experts at Effective Coverage. Renters insurance is what we do, and the difference is easy to see in the little things. Call Effective Coverage today at (800)892-4308 for a free quote or review of your current policy, or click above to get started now!