Insurance is designed to make you whole if the unexpected should happen. While banks and mortgage companies require us to have homeowners insurance, you may not have it if you are renting. Given the cost, Renters Insurance provides a huge value.
Karina Moretz, ChFC®, shares her story of how Renters Insurance saved them thousands.
Pre-Insurance
Once upon a time I was a young, newlywed. Like many young couples, we started off our married life with few possessions. In fact, we could fit everything they owned in our car. My husband was just beginning his Navy career and we were new to the state.
When signing the lease for our first apartment, it was recommended (but not required) we purchase renters insurance. Money was very tight for us. I wanted to get it. We were adults now and it was the adult thing to do, right? My husband was against it since we didn’t have many possessions. First married argument right off the bat.
Guess who won the argument? It wasn’t me.
We made the decision to not purchase a renters insurance policy.
That’s right, the wife didn’t win. Hey husbands, keep reading, there’s more to the story.
For the next 18 months we worked our jobs and saved up money for our first “adult” purchase. A bed. We had been sleeping on an air mattress for six months before we had enough money saved to purchase a bed. What a wonderful sleep that first night was! A few months later we purchased a sofa. Goodbye camping chairs! A few more months and we had a dining table and chairs. It felt pretty good doing this “adulting” thing.
After living in our apartment for a little over a year, we moved out of state and rented our second apartment. This one required renters insurance. I was happy to purchase a policy since we had more things. My husband, not so much. He looked around our home and didn’t believe the total of what we owned was really that much, even with the new furniture. He felt that if something did happen, we could easily replace the items over time just as we had done the previous year.
Since it was a requirement to have renters insurance there was no argument. But I’m pretty sure I would have lost.
Post-Insurance
Since renters insurance was required, we purchased a small policy. By bundling it with our auto insurance we received a discount…. In the same amount of what the renters insurance
policy cost each month. Ironic? I thought so.
Six months later, we were traveling halfway across the country to visit our family. Five days into our visit, we woke to a 2:00 AM call from our property manager. There had been a fire at our apartment complex and they were contacting each resident. We cut our trip short and spent the next two days driving back home not knowing what we would find.
Upon arrival, we discovered the entire building was destroyed. Three floors – twelve units. The third floor was entirely gone. The rest was rubble and frame. A total and complete loss.
Thankfully, no one was hurt in the fire. The complex had no space to transfer the twelve families and all the apartments in the area had waiting lists greater than two months. Where would we live? Where would we stay while waiting for a new apartment? How could we afford to live in a hotel for such a long time? This was before AirBnB’s existed.
After contacting our insurance provider, we learned our hotel and food would all be covered. That sounded great – almost like a free staycation!
Three days into eating out for ALL our meals, we were over it. We really missed vegetables.
We detailed our possessions and the insurance company cut us a check. As exciting as a huge shopping spree for your home sounds, it was not fun. It was exhausting and emotionally draining. You don’t realize how expensive it is to outfit a kitchen and purchase a full set of linens and towels until you have to buy it all at once.
While I am so very thankful we were not home when the fire happened, there were still so many emotions in the aftermath of the fire. It took months to feel like I was somewhat emotionally recovered. I can’t imagine how much worse it would have been if we hadn’t had renters insurance. If we had no money to pay for the hotel or food all those weeks. If we had to outfit our apartment without the funds to do so. We did NOT want to go back to sleeping on an air mattress.
Lessons Learned
Going through the process I quickly realized how “we don’t have much” is 100% wrong. I routinely thrift things for my home, especially my children’s clothing. And while thrifting is great, it doesn’t work when you need to quickly replace an entire room or home of basic items. 
If you lost every piece of clothing you own and needed to replace a small basic wardrobe you wouldn’t have time to thrift, or even wait for a sale, to get everything you need. You’re at the mercy of what is in stock and the price at that time. My fire experience happened pre-Amazon days, so online shopping was nothing like it is now. Remember when Amazon was just books?
We are now both 100% on the same page about me always being right and him needing to listen having insurance coverage for all areas we need it. Health, auto, life, home, liability. No more (insurance) arguments.
So get the insurance coverage you need. It might not be as expensive as you think.
And here’s your reminder to check your smoke detectors.
Thanks to Karina Moretz ChFC® and Associate Advisor, for this post. Pathfinder Planning LLC is a registered investment advisor in North and South Carolina. We serve young adults and working families by providing personal financial planning and asset management for a simple fee. www.pathfinderplanningllc.com