I rent and yes, I'm insured. Probably over insured. But there are 16 units in my building and 1,912 units in the complex. (We're the 2nd largest apartment complex in the U.S.)

You just can't take any chances. For just a few hundred dollars a year, I can feel comfortable and secure that my belongs are insured. I know it won't replace the valuables and antiques I have... but at least it's a start.

Good advice Sjarz!

Barbara

We rent the house we're living in, and yes, we're insured. We were shocked when we first added tenant's insurance to our other insurances - the total amount was LESS because of discounts for having multiple insurances through that company.

We rent and we have renter's insurance.

Suzan! Thanks for a great and timely post!! I do a lot of disaster services work for Red Cross and am astonished at so many who have lost it all due to fire, flood, etc. and have no personal coverage. Most seem to believe the landlord covers them or the old "it won't happen to me"! Rude and costly awakening for not having spent just a few extra dollars a month.

Back when I was a renter, I finally wised up and got some insurance on my last place. I never needed it but I felt better having it. It was cheap back then too - maybe $100- $150/year. I wasn't exactly dripping in valuables back then (or now!)

We don't rent now, but back when I did, I always had insurance, I remember it was so little, like $32 a year! This was in the mid to late 70's.

I would think the bathtub lady would have to pay all of the expenses for the person below her, along with your losses, wouldn't she, Suzan?

This is an interesting thread. We don't rent so this doesn't apply to me, but I do have a question. With the housing market what it is these days I have a few friends who either have to rent now or are planning to rent out there house to others. For my friends that are planning to rent their house out, can they require their tenants to carry their own insurance? Or will their homeowners policy cover the renters too?

I don't think this is something that would have occurred to me.

Danielle

On our most recent lease, it did state that we were required to purchase insurance. We already had it, though - just had to change the address.

Hmmmmm, Thanks I'll tell her.

When we rented in New Orleans, I bought renters insurance and flood insurance. now, the total of our worldly prossetions was only about 6,000- cars not included, they were insured seperately. The agent laughed at the flood insurance.

I was more concenred about some stupid personint he complex trying to sue us for something than on us lossing everything. Same reason I have a high "suable coverage" or whatever it is called at the house.

When I lived in a 6-unit complex, each of us in 3-storey units, I self-insured. It's my opinion that Canadians have been much less litigious-minded that many U.S. people ... very few up here willing to sue at the drop of a hat.

Now, in the country house, the landlord's insurance company requires that I be insured ... with a different company from his on the house structure. Mine is on the contents that I own (not including appliances, which are his).

Changed auto insurance, as the former carrier only offerd a type of insurance on contents of house that didn't interest me, so went with an insurer that I'd used years ago for car ...

... and promptly had an accident!

No fault, and I was judged not at fault, so my company paid me.

Good wishes for not needing that insurance, all.

By the way ...

... have a look around your place and decide what you just couldn't bear to do without. Make copies and leave them with friends in another location.

Some years ago I was travelling with a couple of missionaries of the Presbyterian U.S.A. Church, the man managing the Christian Radio network in Korea, and which family had lost everything when the Korean War started: they were at a mission meeting 50 miles or south of their home in Seoul and had to travel in the other direction to a U.S. air base to be evacuated ... so lost everything in their house in Seoul except some of the stuff that was with them at the meeting ... and I think that they were allowed one suitcase each to take on the plane.

I asked them what among their losses at the time they found most bereft about.

Any idea what their response might have been??

Take a moment to think what's in your house that you wouldn't want to do without.

"Kids' pictures", was their answer (and he was something of an audio-visual kind of guy).

Like I said ... take stock of what you couldn't do without ... and if it's (they're) duplicatable ... duplicate 'em ... and put the copies in a safe place.

ole joyful

Such good advice O.J.

Thank you

We're landlords and we require tenants to carry renters insurance with liability. We cover the structure for damages, but not their contents. We require tenants to carry liability insurance because if they were to have a wild, drunken party and a friend of theirs falls and breaks their neck, they must first sue the renter/tenant because it's their responsibility to look out for people who come to visit them. We also carry a large liability umbrella on our rental unit....just in case. My mother always said, "You can never have too much insurance". She was very wise.

Years ago a friend lost everything she had in a house fire. She said the thing that bothered her most was the loss of pictures of her children as they were growing up.

With digital cameras and computers we could easily have them all on a couple of discs.

When my partner died, his family were upset because several of them wanted his pictures. I scanned and saved on disc, 1118 for each of them. Was that ever a lot of work. I don't know if they treasure them or not but it solved the problem.

When we rented, we had renters insurance. Unless things have changed, I think renters insurance only covers the renters property??? NO???

*I would think the bathtub lady would have to pay all of the expenses for the person below her, along with your losses, wouldn't she, Suzan?*

The bathtub lady will be liable for our deductible but whether we'll ever see that money is debatable as she is on disability and has very little income. Otherwise our insurance will cover our losses.
The gal down stairs told me she will be going after the bath tub lady for her expenses...
both suites are drying nicely. no additional problems today, thank you very much God! Restoration company figures another 2-3 days minimum before the suites are dry enough to work in - I would hope it will be dry by then as it must be about 200 degrees in there with all the fans running.
Suzan J

I'm trying to figure out how that happened. Isn't there an overflow in the tub? That should have taken care of it. People do the stupidest things!

I had renters insurance when I rented but I wouldn't call it cheap. About 1/2 to 3/4 of homeowners insurance on my house. I worry less about the "valuables" than I do for the liability end. When I think about what I have, there's not a lot that would crush me if it was a total loss. In fact, it would be a benefit in a lot of cases! :)

If the bathtub in the original story appeared to have an overflow, but for some reason it was plugged, or for whatever reason not working ...

... it could be that the property owner's insurance company may be on the hook, as the equipment wasn't working as it should have. Provided that, if it were plugged, the tenant wasn't responsible for the plugging.

I think that there might be a lot of squabbling, in such a case.

ole joyful

Funny you should ask that, cynic! That was the first thing out of the tenant's mouth was that the overflow was not functioning. Had our maintenance man come out right away to check that, and although there are not huge drain holes in the overflow, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. An overflow can only handle so much before it, too, overflows - and we're talking minimum 7 hours of water running, maybe longer as I don't know what time this woman fell asleep.

She came to see me yesterday and told me to get those drying fans out of there and put her furniture back in place as she was planning to sleep there last night. (She's kind of pushy)
I told her that until my restoration guy gives the okay those fans stay on, and until I have a copy of her tenant's insurance policy in my hand nobody is sleeping in there again! She wasn't amused with me...
The poor gal downstairs is having to pay $75/day to stay elsewhere and it's not sounding like she is going to get a break on her rent as our insurance doesn't cover lost revenue and she didn't have insurance. My boss said he'd think on it over the weekend, but I bet they are going to say she is liable for the rent for May, which isn't fair, I don't think.
The saga continues....
Suzan J

Do I read this correctly? Are you saying the victim downstairs is expected to pay rent on an uninhabitable apartment? Boy that's one for The People's Court! LOL. I would think the building is on the hook for her accommodations at least or the rent under a fitness for use with the dummy being responsible to the Owner for liability for the damage caused by her negligence. That is unless there's some strange clause in the lease, but I can't see how that would be allowed. Course I'm not an attorney, don't even play one on TV, but just a thought or two.

I still say it's a STOOPID thing... People like that are a waste of air. Accidents happen, but they don't need that much outside help. Incredible...

The lady downstairs had better get the people from the municipal government responsible to oversee rental units to ensure that they're appropriate for occupancy to check her apt.

If they agree that she can't be expected to live there, it's my view that the landlord is in breach of contract ... and has to provide her with appropriate accomodation.

Then chase the lady with the flowing bathtub to restore things to their original condition.

If the overflow wasn't working, it seems to me that the landlord's insurance co,. is on the hook.

If it was working, but unable to accomodate the full flow, then there could be a good deal of fussing.

If I were the sleeping tenant, I think I'd be suing the manufacturer of the overflow, claiming incompetence.

As cynic, I'm no lawyer.

Not even of litigious spirit, ordinarily.

ole joyful