Some things to think about.

1) Do you have anything(s) of significant value if the home you are renting goes up in flames? If so, most likely, those things won't be insured unless you get renter's insurance. The landlord's insurance probably won't cover loss to YOUR belongings unless something happened that you can prove gross negligence on landlords behalf.

Example: you left a candle in a room and the entire room catches fire. Your personal belongings are insured by your renter's insurance, not the landlord.

2)Liability coverage. Suppose you have a guest over and something happens and the guest turns around and sues. Whether the liability is you or the landlord is a grey area:

in some cases it's the landlord (roof shingle falls off and injures someone walking by)., in some cases it's you (you stack a bunch of heavy boxes in the garage and it falls over on a guest walking into your garage). Part of renter's insurance have a liability coverage, if you don't already have any.

How much for renter's insurance depends on coverage. Not an insurance agent, and not a renter. So no idea. But it's easy to call around. AAA,allstate,farmers,etc.

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

Some things to think about.

1) Do you have anything(s) of significant value if the home you are renting goes up in flames? If so, most likely, those things won't be insured unless you get renter's insurance. The landlord's insurance probably won't cover loss to YOUR belongings unless something happened that you can prove gross negligence on landlords behalf.

Example: you left a candle in a room and the entire room catches fire. Your personal belongings are insured by your renter's insurance, not the landlord.

2)Liability coverage. Suppose you have a guest over and something happens and the guest turns around and sues. Whether the liability is you or the landlord is a grey area:

in some cases it's the landlord (roof shingle falls off and injures someone walking by)., in some cases it's you (you stack a bunch of heavy boxes in the garage and it falls over on a guest walking into your garage). Part of renter's insurance have a liability coverage, if you don't already have any.

How much for renter's insurance depends on coverage. Not an insurance agent, and not a renter. So no idea. But it's easy to call around. AAA,allstate,farmers,etc.

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

Some things to think about.

1) Do you have anything(s) of significant value if the home you are renting goes up in flames? If so, most likely, those things won't be insured unless you get renter's insurance. The landlord's insurance probably won't cover loss to YOUR belongings unless something happened that you can prove gross negligence on landlords behalf.

Example: you left a candle in a room and the entire room catches fire. Your personal belongings are insured by your renter's insurance, not the landlord.

2)Liability coverage. Suppose you have a guest over and something happens and the guest turns around and sues. Whether the liability is you or the landlord is a grey area:

in some cases it's the landlord (roof shingle falls off and injures someone walking by)., in some cases it's you (you stack a bunch of heavy boxes in the garage and it falls over on a guest walking into your garage). Part of renter's insurance have a liability coverage, if you don't already have any.

How much for renter's insurance depends on coverage. Not an insurance agent, and not a renter. So no idea. But it's easy to call around. AAA,allstate,farmers,etc.

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

We have a replacement cost policy (so they won’t depreciate our belongings) with a policy limit of $52K with USAA and we pay $268.41 per year. If you don’t have as much valuable stuff or if you went for the actual cash value policy, it would be less. If you have more stuff, it’ll be more…of course, I’m not sure how this compares with other carriers.

When I was in college (and had essentially nothing), I paid $6 a month through State Farm. It was more for liability purposes…who wants a poor college kid suing you?

We have a replacement cost policy (so they won’t depreciate our belongings) with a policy limit of $52K with USAA and we pay $268.41 per year. If you don’t have as much valuable stuff or if you went for the actual cash value policy, it would be less. If you have more stuff, it’ll be more…of course, I’m not sure how this compares with other carriers.

When I was in college (and had essentially nothing), I paid $6 a month through State Farm. It was more for liability purposes…who wants a poor college kid suing you?

Earthquake insurance is separate. As mentioned above, homeowners policies may just cover the structure, and nothing inside. If that is the case, then in the event of an earthquake and total loss of your belongings – say the house collapses, you’ll want to protect all your belongings. Since everyone thinks the big one is due, I’d recommend getting it given its a marginal cost per year to add on that rider to your renters insurance.

Also you mentioned having a pool and a family of 5. Assuming you have kids and they might have friends over – another reason to get the renters insurance – you don’t want to get sued because a kid slips and falls by the pool or something even worse happens!

Earthquake insurance is separate. As mentioned above, homeowners policies may just cover the structure, and nothing inside. If that is the case, then in the event of an earthquake and total loss of your belongings – say the house collapses, you’ll want to protect all your belongings. Since everyone thinks the big one is due, I’d recommend getting it given its a marginal cost per year to add on that rider to your renters insurance.

Also you mentioned having a pool and a family of 5. Assuming you have kids and they might have friends over – another reason to get the renters insurance – you don’t want to get sued because a kid slips and falls by the pool or something even worse happens!