When you're on your road trip, you might find somewhere nice enough that you decide to stick around for a bit and rent an apartment. If this is your first apartment, you've probably never thought about insurance. While you were living at home with your folks, you were covered under the home insurance they took out on their home. Now, however, you're on your own and you should take steps to make sure that your possessions are protected wherever you live.

Most people who have signed a condo or apartment rental contract probably don't know that they need to buy insurance. Since someone else owns the property, aren't they responsible for whatever happens to your stuff while you're living there? No, they are not. If there is a fire or a flood or a break in, your landlord is only required to repair the living space, not compensate you for the loss or damage of your belongings. Many renters are caught out this way and end up losing everything in apartment fires.

To keep this from happening to you, you need to get a renter's insurance policy. Also known as tenant insurance, this type of policy covers your belongings in case something disastrous happens in your home. There can be many dangers to renters, from fires to break ins to burst pipes to the occasional tornado, so it is never a good idea to trust fate not to deliver a disaster onto your doorstep, especially when you can protect yourself from it for about $100 per year.

You can get tenant insurance online or from any reputable insurance broker or company. Simply make an appointment to talk to a representative. They will go over your options with you. Your insurance premiums may be different depending on whether you're renting a house or a room in a house, how old the building is, and what safety precautions the landlord has installed. You can also take out different amounts of insurance depending on how much you think your belongings are worth.

It's important that you read over all the details of a policy. Some policies only cover certain occurrences (floods are commonly left off the list). You should also check to see if you need insurance, because if you're simply renting a home while on vacation or staying in an apartment in college while your permanent address remains at a house, you may still be covered by the house insurance policy.

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