Let’s face it; our children don’t always make the best decisions. As parents, one of our primary responsibilities is to use their poor choices to safely guide them into adulthood.
Throughout their entire lives, we’ve done our best to lead them through the thorny wildlands of adolescence, knowing full well that one day, the time for our baby chicks to flee the nest would inevitably come. Now that the moment has arrived, it’s important for us to remember that just because our children are now adults, that doesn’t mean they no longer need our help. To understand how we can best help them make the right choices, we must understand the options ourselves.
How Does Renters Insurance Protect Our Kids?
At its core, renters insurance is a group of coverages designed to protect people and their possessions. Renters insurance policies help minimize the impact of uncontrollable situations, such as burglary and many types of property loss and damage.
Accidents happen, particularly for young adults who are unfamiliar with the ways of the world. Newly independent young people aren’t always the most diligent when it comes to taking unnecessary risks. Renters insurance helps protect your children from any potential hardship related to their home or property.
Here are the types of damages that are typically covered by renters insurance policies:
- Fire and Lightning
- Wind and Hail
- Explosions
- Smoke
- Vandalism
- Theft
- Snow, Ice and Sleet
- Water and Steam
- Frozen plumbing, heating and air conditioning
- Damage from short-circuiting
In addition to property damage, most insurance plans also offer liability coverage, particularly related to injuries sustained by visitors at your kid’s home. For example, if a visitor slips, trips or falls, your son or daughter could potentially be held legally responsible. Renters insurance protects them from having to pay out of pocket medical costs.
One of the scariest parts about our children venturing out on their own is the very real possibility of a catastrophic accident, particularly one that might leave them homeless or injured. This is particularly scary when you live far away. One of the many benefits of owning renters insurance is that it will cover temporary living expenses in case of an emergency that leaves their residence uninhabitable. So, even if you live on different sides of the country, they’ll always have somewhere to go.
In addition to theft, damage and medical costs, renters insurance also covers some costs that you would never have suspected. For example, imagine if a burglar stole your son or daughter’s credit cards from their car. Renters insurance policies reimburse damages that might accrue from forgery or fraud. They might even cover the cost of someone else’s property becoming damaged at their home (for example, if they are borrowing another person’s possessions) and food loss, particularly due to spoilage related to power outages or broken appliances.
Does renters insurance cover car theft?
It’s one of the most common questions: does renters insurance cover car theft? While renters insurance doesn’t cover stolen cars (that’s what auto insurance is for), it’s really important to note that renters insurance will cover anything that was stolen from inside your child’s vehicle, even when they are traveling. Say they were on their way back from Thanksgiving break, stopped at the gas station to refill, and while they were getting a snack inside, someone broke in and stole their laptop, cell phone, headphones, and more. As long as they took basic security measures, such as locking their doors or using a car alarm, renters insurance will reimburse financial losses due to items burglarized from their vehicle.
How common is renters insurance?
With just a tiny bit of research, we were able to discover several truly startling facts. For example, did you know that only 41% of renters own insurance, compared to 95% of homeowners? There are several reasons to explain the wide discrepancy, including insurance companies focusing on the higher-cost premiums of homeowner insurance, and a lack of expendable income on the part of renters, but the most common reason is lack of knowledge about the benefits renters insurance has to offer.
As parents, it is our responsibility to lead our kids down the safest and most secure path. The benefits of offered by renters insurance makes purchasing a policy an absolute must. Renters insurance not only protects against financial hardship, but can also help avoid potential lawsuits due to injury or landlord conflict.
Now that we fully understand all the benefits of renters insurance, it’s hard to believe that many people still choose not to purchase a policy. If you’re serious about keeping your kids well-protected, renters insurance is an essential step towards that goal.
