Please explain to me how renter's insurance is so cheap....

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]
renter's insurance appears to be cheap for several reasons:

A: it usually only has to cover your in-home belongings like your furniture, clothes, electronics and so on; not your plumbing, your land, your expensive hardwood floors, etc... if you're an average renter, you probably have less than 10k in property to insure (peanuts)- compare that to an avarage new car, say, 30k+... (hold that thought).

B: Adjusters can form a very accurate idea of their risks. your low rate may be due to living in a relitivly safe neighborhood, in a building with a good history and/or effective security measures in place (secure entry, on-site manager, and so on). I have a friend that lived in a BAD part of town, in an OLD building with minimal security, and he paid $17/month for $20k in coverage- 3+x your rate but still cheap.

C: some renter's ins covers cars parked at the residence as well- yours does not have to, since you have auto ins already.

D: getting convicted for fraud is VERY expensive, and anybody willing to commit ins fraud probably doesn't really worry about the initial investment.

[/ QUOTE ]

You forgot:

E: They'll never pay out anything because insurance companies are bet-welchers who take monthly premium after monthly premium from pathetic customers who want coverage if something bad happens; then when something bad does happen, the cowardly bastards at the company worm their way out of the responsibility for paying for it, claiming that your policy never covered this. SCAM SCAM SCAM. That's how you spell insurance.

Bastards. My friend's apartment burned to the ground and she didn't get jack from her renter's insurance even though the policy covers fire damage.

There are very few things on the planet earth that get my blood boiling more than insurance companies. Take genocide, starvation, worldwide disease, global terrorism, and domestic abuse, and throw in insurance companies.

Watch Spike Lee's doc on Katrina (When the Levees Broke) for further evidence.

[WillMagic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
renter's insurance appears to be cheap for several reasons:

A: it usually only has to cover your in-home belongings like your furniture, clothes, electronics and so on; not your plumbing, your land, your expensive hardwood floors, etc... if you're an average renter, you probably have less than 10k in property to insure (peanuts)- compare that to an avarage new car, say, 30k+... (hold that thought).

B: Adjusters can form a very accurate idea of their risks. your low rate may be due to living in a relitivly safe neighborhood, in a building with a good history and/or effective security measures in place (secure entry, on-site manager, and so on). I have a friend that lived in a BAD part of town, in an OLD building with minimal security, and he paid $17/month for $20k in coverage- 3+x your rate but still cheap.

C: some renter's ins covers cars parked at the residence as well- yours does not have to, since you have auto ins already.

D: getting convicted for fraud is VERY expensive, and anybody willing to commit ins fraud probably doesn't really worry about the initial investment.

[/ QUOTE ]

You forgot:

E: They'll never pay out anything because insurance companies are bet-welchers who take monthly premium after monthly premium from pathetic customers who want coverage if something bad happens; then when something bad does happen, the cowardly bastards at the company worm their way out of the responsibility for paying for it, claiming that your policy never covered this. SCAM SCAM SCAM. That's how you spell insurance.

Bastards. My friend's apartment burned to the ground and she didn't get jack from her renter's insurance even though the policy covers fire damage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which company insured her?

[Thremp]

private joker,

The amount of fraud they face is a jopke. Not to mention the idiots they deal with on a daily basis. Maybe you should redirect your anger?

[stabn]

[ QUOTE ]
private joker,

The amount of fraud they face is a jopke. Not to mention the idiots they deal with on a daily basis. Maybe you should redirect your anger?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok so in her case it should go to.....? The boogie man? The great white conspiracy?

[Thremp]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
private joker,

The amount of fraud they face is a jopke. Not to mention the idiots they deal with on a daily basis. Maybe you should redirect your anger?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok so in her case it should go to.....? The boogie man? The great white conspiracy?

[/ QUOTE ]

The ridiculous fraud that requires adjusters to be the negative people they are?

When your house is half full of water you are not getting money for "wind damage" on your homeowners. Despite their excellent logic "well the wind caused the water to come in".

[AJackson]

[ QUOTE ]
...so is economics.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you disagree with his reason why a landlord would want his renters to have renters insurance?

Companies do this all the time. They want to spread the liability out among as many companies as possible, plus they want to be sure if someone else to blame for some damage that they can cover the costs. I have to imagine landlords think the same way.

[AJackson]

Years ago, after my house was broken into I looked into getting renters nisurance. Imagine how big of a dumb ass I felt like when I found out that due to the multi-policy discount I received by adding renters insurance my total costs were actually less.

[dogdrool]

It's true that insurance companies basically bank on the cycle of:

1) collect monthly payments
2) make it hard to file a claim
3) if a claim isn't denied, low ball the value
4) piss off customer so he or she switches to another one
5) bring in a new customer who is in step 4 with another corp.

Things I laugh at in insurance ads:

1) saying the number of customers that switched *to* their company, without mentioning the outflow ("but how much did you lose?")

2) promising ridiculously fast payment times. one ad says "if your home is robbed we will replace everything that was stolen within 48 hours." I cannot see how that's even possible.

[Sacramento Kevin]

[ QUOTE ]
It's true that insurance companies basically bank on the cycle of:

1) collect monthly payments
2) make it hard to file a claim
3) if a claim isn't denied, low ball the value
4) piss off customer so he or she switches to another one
5) bring in a new customer who is in step 4 with another corp.

Things I laugh at in insurance ads:

1) saying the number of customers that switched *to* their company, without mentioning the outflow ("but how much did you lose?")

2) promising ridiculously fast payment times. one ad says "if your home is robbed we will replace everything that was stolen within 48 hours." I cannot see how that's even possible.

[/ QUOTE ]

While I agree that insurance company ads are very poor when quoting "new customers", the first section is incorrect. Many companies are VERY concerned about keeping customers - it's simply much easier to grow by keeping people as opposed to adding new customers. In order to keep them, you have to keep them happy - most companies get this and do their best to settle claims in a fair manner. These are usually your bigger name companies, and the rate is a little higher. This is why it's not all that difficult to pad some "lost" items in with a claim with a major carrier. They're not going to haggle a lot over an extra $500 or $1,000 as they want to keep you happy. Again, though, if you do it multiple times, this is a big red flag.

There are companies that follow the "get the money and screw them" approach. They're typically the ones saying how much money they can save you, or it's "Only $19 a month!" Remember - you get what you pay for.

As for the water vs. wind argument - yes, it's a tragedy what happened with Katrina. However, if you're a homeowner (let alone a homeowner in a coastal state), you should know about flood insurance. It's a well established concept that flood is not covered in homeowners policies. If you own a home, it's negligent to not research what you need to do to properly insure it. If an agent misleads you, that's one thing. But I'd be willing to bet that many of the homeowners simply chose to not buy flood insurance.

[Skoob]

[ QUOTE ]
People actually get this? I've rented for 10 years and never once thought of getting it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's why you get renters insurance:
I was an apartment manager several years ago. We got a call one day from a resident saying they could hear their neighbors fire alarm going off for several minutes.

We entered the apartment and no one was home. The dumb-ass had a steak in the oven broiler (550 degrees) and left their apartment. There was smoke everywhere. The steak was burnt to a crisp. We took out the steak, threw it in the sink and doused it. And turned off the oven of course.

Your neighbors are stupid and will burn your building (and all your belongings) down with their stupidity. If you don't have insurance, you're [censored]. And don't think you can sue someone who's liable for a fire (assuming you can prove negligence). You can't sue someone who has no money/assets. Odds are, if they are in an apartment, they have little anyway and they would likely file bankruptcy and you wouldn't get a penny.

Renters insurance is too cheap not to have it.