Do I Need Los Angeles Renters Insurance?
Yes, you need Los Angeles renters insurance. Everyone who lives in LA should have coverage for both personal property and liability. Thefts are common, and Los Angeles renters insurance can help you replace personal property that is stolen.
You also need to remember that apartments in Los Angeles are expensive to rebuild. The construction cost per square foot in LA is far higher than most of the rest of the country. This means that you should carry enough liability on your policy to pay for a full rebuild of your apartment in the event of a loss, like a fire, for which you are responsible.
Otherwise, the landlord can come after you personally for the amount it costs to rebuild after a fire, and that can run north of $100,000 in a worst case scenario. When you live in a town as expensive as LA, there’s no reason not to max out the liability coverage on your Los Angeles renters insurance. Effective Coverage routinely suggests that clients purchase $500,000 of liability. This is not because they’re likely to need it, but because the dollar or so a month investment pays off significantly if there ever is a large loss. Don’t forget that liability coverage on your policy also covers bodily injury to others. If you negligently injure someone, his medical bills can get very, very expensive very quickly.
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Is Renters Insurance Worth The Money In Los Angeles?
Absolutely! A couple bucks a month buys personal property coverage up to $50,000 or more, based on underwriting standards, as well as significant liability protection. You know what a cup of coffee costs in LA. Two day’s worth of coffee a month could pay for your Los Angeles renters insurance! Affordable California Renters Insurance is just a click or a phone call away!
Does Renters Insurance In Los Angeles Cover Theft?
Generally speaking, provided that you’ve taken reasonable care to mitigate risk, Los Angeles renters insurance will cover theft. A theft claim generally is paid out at the cost to replace the stolen item or items, which helps you get back on your feet quickly. It also prevents you from having to borrow money or charge up your credit cards just to replace the items.
What is reasonable care to mitigate risk? It just means you need to take steps a reasonable person would take to reduce the chances of a burglary or other loss. For example, locking your doors and windows when you go out is common sense and certainly falls under the standard of reasonable care. Think of it this way. If you had a loss such as a theft, would your mother shake her head and say “I told you so!”? If so, you’re probably not taking reasonable care.
Does Renters Insurance In Los Angeles Cover Fires?
Yes, Los Angeles renters insurance covers fire losses for both personal property and liability. This means that things lost in the fire are replaced, and your policy can pay for the repairs to the building that you’d normally be responsible for if you started the fire. This can help you avoid getting sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair costs.
The fire and smoke perils on a standard Los Angeles renters insurance policy are fairly broad. The most significant exception is fires that are intentionally set, but that’s an entirely different conversation. Did you know that your renters insurance policy can also cover damage from water related to a fire? If the entire apartment has to be sprayed down with fire hoses to make sure there are no hot spots left, the damage from that water can be covered as well because the fire is the ultimate cause of your loss. Ultimate, or higher, causation is when you look back up the chain of events and determine the one thing that caused all other events below it. The ultimate cause of a fire might be a lit candle. The proximate cause of a loss is the thing nearest to it, such as water from a fire hose damaging the building. The lit candle and ensuing fire are the ultimate cause of your soaked couch, but the fire hose is the proximate cause of the soaked couch. Both can be relevant in Los Angeles renters insurance claims.
Why Do I Need Los Angeles Renters Insurance?
You need Los Angeles renters insurance because bad things can happen to even the most careful person. A negligent act which causes damage to another can be the result of not getting enough sleep the night before, and not paying as much attention as you should, for example. No matter how much care you use, distractions about in large cities, and negligence happens more often than it should as a result. Your policy protects you from liability for those events, along with protecting your personal property.
Does Los Angeles Renters Insurance Cover Earthquakes?
(800)892-4308 – Online California Renters Insurance Quotes
Earthquakes are only covered on Los Angeles renters insurance if the coverage is separately endorsed onto the policy in question. Earthquakes are excluded from the standard HO-4 CA policy form. For specific discussion of earthquake coverage, we can look to the HO-55 CA (04-13) endorsement, “Limited Earthquake Coverage – California.” This endorsement describes in great detail the coverages and exclusions pertinent to earth movement. Things to be cognizant of with regards to the Los Angeles renters insurance earthquake coverage endorsement include:
- Section A, Perils Insured Against: “One or more earthquake shocks that occur within a seventy-two hour period constitute a single earthquake.” This just means that the original quake and its aftershocks are considered a single loss. One deductible, one claim.
- Personal property coverage is limited to $5,000 for earthquake losses. Most earthquake losses are structural, not personal property, so this makes sense.
- Excluded from personal property earthquake coverage is china, glassware, porcelain, or ceramic items, artwork, and property of someone else that is in your possession.
- Additional living expense coverage still applies if you’re unable to use the residence premises as a direct result of the earthquake. The specific phrasing of the endorsement supersedes the loss of use phrasing in the HO-4 policy form.
- We cannot emphasize strongly enough, read your policy.
How Much Does Renters Insurance Cost In Los Angeles?
Los Angeles renters insurance is surprisingly inexpensive, even with the aforementioned earthquake endorsement. You’ll find an average policy runs about twenty dollars a month. Remember that you’re covering your liability and your personal property,= but not the structure itself. This helps to drive down the cost of Los Angeles renters insurance.
Why Can’t I Just Buy Los Angeles Renters Insurance From A Direct Writer?
You shouldn’t buy Los Angeles renters insurance from a direct writer like Geico for two reasons. First of all, chances are good that you’ll be speaking to someone in a call center in Omaha with a few weeks of training. Chances are also strong that the person you deal with at a direct writer couldn’t even find Los Angeles on a map, much less claim to be an expert in the nuances of local coverage.
Second of all, most direct writers do not write their own renters insurance policies. Geico writes auto insurance and only auto insurance. They do not underwrite property coverage of any kind. The Assurant renters insurance policies Geico sells are known for claims problems. Other direct writers work in a similar fashion. You need to work with a company you can trust for your Los Angeles renters insurance.
(800)892-4308 – Online California Renters Insurance Quotes
So What Does Los Angeles Renters Insurance Really Do For Me?
Los Angeles renters insurance is, at its core, a homeowners policy with the dwelling coverage stripped out. That leaves us with a policy that gives you:
- Coverage C: Personal Property, in an amount you select
- Coverage D: Loss of Use, generally 20% of Coverage C
- Coverage E: Personal Liability, generally ranging from $100,000 to $500,000
- Coverage F: Medical Payments To Others, generally ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. This is a no fault coverage for someone who is injured on your premises.
The building owner is required by the State of California to maintain insurance on the structure itself. However, the landlord’s insurance does absolutely nothing for you as a tenant. If the building was to burn down, the landlord does not and cannot cover your personal property. It’s not his responsibility, and he has no insurable interest in it.
Is All My Personal Property Equally Protected By Los Angeles Renters Insurance?
Some classes of personal property have lower sub-limits. These do not change the aggregate amount of personal property coverage. They only change the amount of that aggregate that may be paid on a given class of property. Examples include jewelry, generally sublimited to $1,500, fine art, and cash or cash equivalents. If you have these types of property in your home, you should add an endorsement or “floater” to your Los Angeles renters policy to ensure you are fully protected. An insurance provider like Effective Coverage,who familiar with the local market, is able to offer these policies and endorsements at very low rates.
Who Has The Cheapest Renters Insurance In Los Angeles?
One of the cheapest ways to buy renters insurance in Los Angeles is through Effective Coverage. Because Effective Coverage has a staff of experts in Los Angeles insurance coverage and performs proper underwriting review before binding a risk, you get a policy that meets your needs for the lowest possible price. You also get every discount available to you, without having to ask. Effective Coverage knows what discounts Los Angeles renters insurance makes available and applies them all as a matter of course. You shouldn’t have to ask for the renters insurance value plan. Value should already be a part of the policy.
(800)892-4308 – Online California Renters Insurance Quotes
Effective Coverage offers California Renters Insurance policies and Los Angeles renters insurance policies that are properly underwritten, double-checked for discounts, and highly rated by organizations that rate the strength of insurance companies. By choosing to work with Effective Coverage, you get a coverage expert on your side who can walk you through the process of determining how much coverage you need and what additional risks you might be subject to that can be mitigated with a renters insurance policy. Effective Coverage Los Angeles renters insurance policies, inexpensive though they may be, provide the coverage you need and the value you deserve. You can call (800 )892-4308 or click above for a free, online Los Angeles renters insurance quote. All you have to do is take just a moment to call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Los Angeles renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
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