If you live in Santa Monica, we know you’re busy. Such is life in California. We know you probably think you don’t have time to deal with Santa Monica renters insurance. About fifty-six percent of Americans feel the same way! What they don’t know is that it takes about five minutes and costs less than they think. California Renters Insurance is neither difficult nor expensive.
One recent study actually suggested that a fair number of people expected Santa Monica, CA renters insurance to cost over a thousand dollars a year! Some people don’t pay that much for their homeowners insurance in California, we can assure you renters insurance in Santa Monica (or anywhere else!) doesn’t cost anywhere near that much.
Effective Coverage is the only national insurance provider focused exclusively on the insurance needs of renters. We’ve spent years learning about what renters value and want to protect, and how to give them that protection quickly, efficiently, and at the lowest cost with the best coverage for their particular needs. As part of our core values, education is part of our mission. We know that there are misconceptions out there about California Renters Insurance, and we’d like to help solve them. That’s why we create these guides for Santa Monica renters insurance and over a hundred other cities. That’s also why we’re leading the Renters Insurance Challenge, to get 40 percent of American renters covered before the end of 2017.
Take a few minutes to review our Santa Monica, CA renters insurance guide and then if you still have questions, reach out to one of our friendly renters insurance experts or start a quote online in just minutes.
Santa Monica, CA Renters Insurance
How Much Is Santa Monica, CA Renters Insurance? I Heard It Was Expensive!
California Renters Insurance companies doesn’t use insurance credit scores in rating or underwriting Santa Monica renters insurance. The net effect of this is that anyone who has renters insurance in Santa Monica, CA pays just a tiny bit more than the national average, but not enough to actually make a difference in anyone’s budget. By a tiny bit more, we mean maybe a dollar more a month. The national average cost of a renters insurance policy is about $180 a year, or fifteen dollars monthly. Santa Monica renters insurance averages as high as $195 a year, which is… About sixteen dollars a month.
They say things are more expensive in California, and that may be true in many cases, but Santa Monica renters insurance is not more expensive in any meaningful way than anywhere else in the country.
Can I Share Renters Insurance In Santa Monica With A Roommate To Cut The Cost?
If you properly add a roommate to renters insurance, each of you could pay even less. Endorsing a roommate onto your policy might add about sixty dollars a year. Divide the total of $255 by the two of you, and it only costs about $127.50 a year for each of you, far less than you’d pay for two individual policies. The key, of course, is that you have to properly endorse that roommate on and pay the extra cost. That’s the only way they get any coverage at all under the policy.
Once again, if the roommate is not listed on the policy in some fashion and the proper premium paid if applicable, the roommate has no coverage at all under the policy. It’s important to work with Santa Monica renters insurance experts to ensure everyone in the household is covered. Family members often are covered under the definition of named insured, but roommates aren’t often also family members. Just let Effective Coverage know who lives in your home and you’ll get the right policy!
Does Santa Monica Renters Insurance Cover Earthquakes?
“Does” and “Could” are two very different questions. Earthquakes and earth movement are excluded from renters insurance in Santa Monica because the standard policy form does not provide for an appropriate amount of premium to be charged to cover the loss. Just like a flood, an earthquake could cause losses into the trillions of dollars, and people who don’t want the coverage don’t want to pay for it. Remember that World Series game at Candlestick Park that got cancelled by an earthquake? The risk of total destruction of structures is very real.
Santa Monica renters insurance could cover earthquakes, though. Unlike flood, earthquake coverage can be endorsed onto your renters insurance in Santa Monica. It’s generally only a few dollars a year to add the coverage, and depending on your personal level of risk tolerance, it’s well worth doing.
So no, the standard HO-4 renters insurance in Santa Monica isn’t going to cover earthquakes, but you can add the coverage by endorsement and it’s very inexpensive. It’s also well worth considering.
Do I Really Need Renters Insurance In Santa Monica, CA If I Live In A Doorman Building?
Absolutely. You need renters insurance in Santa Monica even if you live inside a bank vault! The doorman adds some security, and often there’s a discount on your policy for that, but it’s not an absolute. People can still get into the building behind someone, or be let in as a guest.
Then there are other risks, such as fire and burst pipes. A doorman isn’t going to be terribly helpful in those situations. No matter how safe your apartment is, you still need renters insurance in Santa Monica and everywhere else in the country.
Who Sells Renters Insurance In Santa Monica?
Effective Coverage has been the leading full service provider of insurance for renters for years. Whether you call, chat online with a friendly renters insurance expert right here in the U.S., or click below to get a quote and buy your policy online, Effective Coverage is the best choice for renters insurance and all of your other Santa Monica insurance needs.
Renting In Santa Monica, CA
There’s a great deal to be said about living in Santa Monica. Everclear even wrote a song about Santa Monica. It’s top on quite a few lists, according to City-Data.com:
- Largest percentage of female lawyers
- Fourth highest city spending on parks and recreation per capita
- Eighth most tornado activity in the country among cities > 50,000 residents
- #8 for highest number of doctors offices
- #5 for cost of living in major cities nationwide
OK, so Santa Monica is an expensive city with lots of lawyers, a high percentage of whom are female. But they’re mostly busy suing all the doctor’s offices scattered around the city, so they won’t be of concern to you while you’re enjoying the city parks. No worries there. But what about the tornadoes?
Most people wouldn’t have guessed tornadoes would be a significant risk in California, but they certainly are. That’s why it’s a good thing your renters insurance in Santa Monica generally covers damage from windstorms!
With a population of about 92,000 (up 9 percent from 2000!) and a median household income of $72,000, Santa Monica is a popular place to live. It’s expensive, admittedly, with the median gross rent hovering around $1,500, but the economy and available jobs support the lifestyle. There’s nothing wrong with a city with a high cost of living, provided that there’s work to support it, and Santa Monica certainly has the right kind of work available.
The largest employers are the City of Santa Monica (typical in a city of this size), the local UCLA medical center and other health industries, the RAND Corporation, Universal Music, and Activision Blizzard. Oh, and Lionsgate Entertainment. This is California, after all, we can’t forget the movie industry. Those employers contribute significantly to the community both in salaries and in taxes and other revenues paid to the city, which makes the city an even nicer place to live.
In addition to great housing, a great economy, and plenty of jobs, Santa Monica is also a safe place to live. Crime affected just 4 percent of the population in 2006, below the national average crime rate! The number is actually much lower, since it should be calculated only against permanent residents and not including tourists for these purposes, which is even better news.
Santa Monica, like much of the rest of California, has excellent tenant protections that offer you significant rights, if you are aware of them. Can a landlord raise your rent in Santa Monica just because they feel like it? When can a landlord enter the apartment for maintenance that isn’t urgent? How can you protect yourself from unscrupulous landlords? These are common questions everywhere, but especially in rent-controlled Santa Monica where landlord-tenant law can be more complex than it is in many places. Santa Monica Renters Rights is a non-profit dedicated to helping tenants understand those complexities and to protect themselves within those boundaries, as well as offering resources and guidance for tenants facing problems of many kinds with their landlords.
This is a great place to call home, with high property values and low crime rates and a city government that cares. But even with all those positives, you still need Santa Monica, CA renters insurance to protect your family and the things that are most important to you. It’s easy to get, inexpensive, and only takes a few minutes. Reach out to Effective Coverage today to get coverage from the Santa Monica renters insurance experts! All you have to do is take just a moment to call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Santa Monica renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
Effective Coverage offers the nation's only completely mobile platform to quote and purchase renters insurance right from your phone or tablet in just one minute. Get an online renters insurance quote today and protect your family.