Setting out on a journey to get insurance might be a complex undertaking, but it is worth it because it helps secure your future. There are many different insurance policies, and you may want to know how much is renters insurance in nc. There are also some important terms and concepts that we need to understand to become successful. For example, we need to be able to define renters insurance in nc and what personal property is all about.
What is personal property? It includes such things as furniture, clothing, dishes, silverware, pictures, or anything else you own that has value to someone else but is not an item of your “real” property. If someone steals your stereo or TV set, the coverage would replace it without question.
A close focus
In any case, it would be up to you (the renter) to get your stuff back from whoever has it. On the other hand, if your landlord decides to sell the apartment building and he fails to give you proper notice, he may end up selling the building before you have a chance to move out and obtain new housing. In this event, you would no longer have a place to live and, therefore, you might be forced to “rough it” in a shelter or hotel for an extended period of time. This could result in considerable expense to you. That’s why many states require landlords to provide “personal property” coverage in their insurance policies. It basically protects you against this type of situation. Here’s how it works:
Suppose your landlord has a house next door which he is trying to sell. Your landlord calls an agent and says, “I want to make you a fair offer on that house over there.” The agent asks, “What’s the house like?” “Oh,” replies the landlord, “it’s a three-bedroom, two bath ranch with an attached car garage and a fenced back yard.” “Sounds great,” says the agent. “How much are you asking for it?” “Oh, just $89,000,” replies the landlord. “That sounds good to me,” says the agent. “How soon can you close?” “Oh, I just need ten days to get all the paperwork ready,” replies the landlord. So, the agent writes a policy insuring the house against loss from fire and other hazards. He tells the landlord he’ll send him a copy of the policy.
The turn of events
With that being said, the agent then phones the homeowner who has a renters insurance policy. The agent says to the homeowner, “I have a very attractive offer for you on your house next door. It’s a three-bedroom, two-bath ranch with an attached two car garage and a fenced back yard. It sounds great. How much are you asking for it?” “Oh, just $89,000” replies the homeowner. “That sounds great to me,” says the agent. “How soon can you close?” “Oh, I just need ten days to get all the paperwork ready,” replies the homeowner. “OK, fine,” says the agent, “I’ll write your policy.” The agent then mails a copy of the landlord’s policy to the homeowner. Now, let’s say the house burns down the same day the homeowner gets the letter from the agent. The agent phones the landlord and says, “Your house burned down last night. Did you get a copy of the claim you filed?” “Oh yeah,” replies the landlord, “I thought that was part of the deal. I guess it wasn’t.
Whereas, the claim you filed for the house next door was worth only $7,500. Therefore, we are going to pay you $92,500 to replace your house.” Does this mean the homeowner got ripped off? No, it just means the agent didn’t do his job. You see, the agent was supposed to make sure the homeowner had equal or better coverage than the one he (the agent) wrote for the landlord. This is where “personal property” coverage comes in. In this example, it would cover the loss suffered by the homeowner up to the full amount of coverage provided by his policy minus the amount already paid to repair the loss (or damage) to his house.
Note: If the agent wrote a policy with a higher limit of liability for the house next door than the one he wrote for the homeowner, we would still only be responsible for the actual cash value of the loss, not the full replacement cost. Now, let’s say you and your family were living in the burned-out house next door and you needed to find another place to live. Where would you go? Probably back to your old house which is now a total loss.
However, your old house may not be rebuilt until next year. In the meantime, your stuff might be in storage. Who pays for your stuff to be stored? That would be your “deductible.” In this case, it would be the deductible provided in your “landlord’s” insurance policy. There are several advantages to having “personal property” coverage: Advantage #1: If your house burns down and your belongings are in it, we will still pay you the actual cash value of your losses without raising your premium. Advantage #2: We will still pay you even if your belongings are in storage because it is assumed they would have been stored in a safer place than your house. Advantage #3:If you or a family member gets sick and needs medical attention, we will still pay for that treatment without raising your premium. Advantage #4: If you or a family member needs some extra money to help him get back on his feet, we will still pay up to the full replacement cost of any lost or damaged belongings without raising your premium.
However, there is a downside too: The downside is… YOU MUST MAIL US A CLAIM FOR YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY! Claim forms are usually sent to you by mail in an unmarked envelope. It will most likely come in a yellow envelope with “Federal Express” printed on it or it may come in a white envelope with “UPS” printed on it. You must fill out the claim form and send it to us along with two forms of ID (like a driver’s license or a passport).
Then, we will determine whether or not you are entitled to any reimbursement for your losses. Another thing you should know is… We Will Not Pay For Loss Or Damage Caused By Fire, Theft, Or Explosion To Your House Which Is Under Coverage Of Another Insurance Policy! This is called “other insurance” and it is almost always provided by your homeowner’s insurance policy. If your house is covered for $500,000 worth of fire damage and another insurance company pays off, we will NOT pay even if your house is completely destroyed. I’m sure most of us find these conditions pretty complex, and that is why I advise you to take the term to learn about important concepts and also answer important questions such as how much is renters insurance in nc.
Only if your house is NOT covered (or only partially covered) will we pay for the loss or damage caused by fire, theft or explosion. If you have any questions about this, you can call us at 1-800-000-0000. Insurance Agents Steal From Their Customers Every Day! Here’s an example of how an insurance agent takes advantage of his customers: Let’s say you’ve had homeowner’s insurance with this same agent for several years and your home has never been seriously damaged. Then one day you hear a loud cracking noise and look up to see the top half of your front porch collapsing into your living room. Naturally, you call your agent and tell him about the noise and ask him if he knows what it was. He says he doesn’t know but he’ll check it out and get back to you.
A few days later, you get a call from your agent telling you the damage was caused by termites and he wants to put some poison in your lawn to kill them. You tell him you already did that several months ago and you don’t want any more of that poison in your yard. The agent then tells you he’ll have his man come out and take a look at your house and tell you whether or not the damage is covered. The “man” turns out to be a woman and she charges you $300 just to look at your house and give you an estimate. Then she tells you she’s not going to write up a report and charge you for her services because your house is so old and they don’t bother with it anymore.
As I have noted before, insurance agents are NOT required to be licensed in this state. Therefore, it is impossible for an unlicensed agent to know the law and thus impossible for his customers to know the law. If your home is over 10 years old, the average cost to repair it is calculated accordingly.
That means the woman (agent) you just talked with has charged you $3,000 to tell you your house is not worth repairing. Do you have any idea how much money that is in comparison to what she makes as an unlicensed, uninsured “independent contractor” working for one of the larger insurance companies?
Another example of an insurance agent taking advantage of his customers: Recently, I was contacted by a man who said he had some information that might be of interest to me. He told me he was a retired teacher who lived in Key West and he had a little time on his hands so he thought he would share this information with me.
What he wanted to tell me was there were certain types of insurance policies that were almost certain to fail and if I bought such a policy, I could expect a substantial refund on my investment within three months. It is important to be careful whether you are taking up the renters insurance in nc or any other policy, and don’t forget this point. You may also be interested to learn how much is renters insurance in nc.
Developing the right perspective
What he told me has proved to be dead-on-target accurate and all of my readers need to know this. Here’s what he told me: There are two kinds of people who buy life insurance… those who want to leave something behind… and those who don’t. The first type will always select level or ascending death benefit policies because they want their family to get as much money as possible no matter how long it takes them to die.
Consequently, they will usually choose the highest level they can afford. Most people who don’t have any desire to leave something behind don’t understand the ramifications of what they are doing. However, every dollar they do pay in premiums only provides a limited benefit.
The second type of person is one who doesn’t really need the insurance but who has been led into this situation by his or her spouse, lawyer, or someone else with “legal authority” over him. This type of person is most often a man who has a very high opinion of himself and he will almost always buy an immediate payment policy with a large “dummy” or “lump-sum” death benefit. He figures he’s got plenty to live on for at least two or three years and he certainly doesn’t need the insurance until then. What he doesn’t understand is insurance is meant to provide protection against things which are uncertain like long-term illness, or accidents, not certain early death. And, unfortunately, certain types of insurance policies are almost certain to fail.
Why? Because they were written by insurance agents who are only concerned with their own financial interest and not the interests of their clients. A common example of such a policy is one which has a cash value loan built in. Here’s how it works: You pay a certain amount of money to purchase this type of policy and the insurance company agrees to pay you a certain amount of money every year on the anniversary of your policy’s purchase. However, instead of paying you the full amount of the face value of the policy, they agree to pay you a much smaller amount (usually about 75%) which is equivalent to the “cash-value” of your policy.
That is, they will pay you the full amount of the “cash-value” of your policy if you die within a certain number of years… but… if you don’t die within that time period, they will simply continue to pay you an annual amount that is less than the full amount of the “cash value.”
Closer focus on renters insurance in nc
As a result, many homeowners are unaware they have this coverage until they need it. Now, let’s talk about the “renters insurance policy.” Suppose the same scenario occurs except this time the home is not on fire but rather, it is being vandalized by someone who doesn’t like the homeowner.
In this case, the homeowner has what is called “loss of use” coverage. This type of coverage is standard in most homeowners’ policies and it allows the homeowner to recover the actual cash value of his belongings up to the limit of his policy minus the deductible. However, this coverage does NOT apply to personal property.
In other words, if your TV is broken, the cash value of that item will be based on its wholesale cost. Therefore, if the agent failed to get the personal property coverage added to your landlord’s policy, you may very well be personally liable for replacing those items which were lost or damaged.
Personal property coverage is extremely important! Here are a few other tips on how to save money when buying renters insurance: Never pay extra for an insurance policy that you already have through your employer. Many employers offer a “group policy” which provides basic coverage at a substantial discount. Ask your insurance agent if your company group policy provides renter’s insurance.