{"id":4205,"date":"2021-08-31T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/?p=4205"},"modified":"2024-09-20T13:41:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T20:41:57","slug":"renters-insurance-in-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/renters-insurance\/renters-insurance-in-seattle\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I Need Renters Insurance in Seattle?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Insuring your new home is a no-brainer. You have too much at stake to not carry adequate coverage. But what if you\u2019re renting? The place isn\u2019t even owned by you, so why would you purchase <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/renters-insurance\/\"><u>renters insurance<\/u><\/a>? Are you required by law to do so?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2017\/07\/19\/more-u-s-households-are-renting-than-at-any-point-in-50-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pew Research Center<\/a>, these are all important questions since more Americans rent their housing than at any time since at least 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not legally required to buy renters insurance in Seattle or anywhere in the state of Washington, for that matter. However, some landlords require that you carry such a policy before they rent to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And even if all of that wasn\u2019t true, obtaining affordable renters insurance is <em>always<\/em> the smart thing to do. Let\u2019s take a closer look at what renters insurance is, what it typically costs, and why it\u2019s so critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Real-Life Reasons to Get Renters Insurance in Seattle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are endless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/tips\/reasons-to-get-renters-insurance\/\"><u>good reasons to get renters insurance<\/u><\/a>. Consider the following realistic scenarios just for starters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You live in a multi-unit building, and a neighbor (or even a tenant on another floor) smokes in bed. Or a young child in another unit plays with matches. Whatever the cause, while your apartment escapes the flames, there\u2019s smoke damage that destroys electronics and ruins mattresses, bedding, and clothing.<\/li><li>A hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flooding, lightning storm, or other natural disaster causes extensive damage to the home you\u2019re renting and most of its contents.<\/li><li>You live in a ground-floor apartment in a safe neighborhood, but someone crawls in through an unlocked window and steals valuable computers, cameras, and stereo equipment.<\/li><li>Your stove malfunctions while you\u2019re cooking in your duplex. The entire house catches fire, and your upstairs neighbor sues you for the resulting destruction of virtually everything they own.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You aren\u2019t at fault in all of these scenarios, but it will nonetheless cost you significantly\u2014unless you own renters insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Won\u2019t My Landlord\u2019s Insurance Cover Me?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer is that your landlords\u2019 insurance policy protects <em>their<\/em> property, not yours. So your landlords will bring in a locksmith to install stronger locks if your place gets broken into. They\u2019ll repair or replace the furnace and water heater when they stop working. They\u2019ll put on a new roof, replaster the walls, and replace electrical or plumbing systems after a natural disaster. All of this should happen at no cost to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What their insurers won\u2019t do is replace your stolen computers, destroyed furnishings, or smoke-damaged clothing. And the landlord\u2019s policy won\u2019t cover your legal and settlement costs if you\u2019re successfully sued for the damage that a fire started in your unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nor will your landlords\u2019 insurer pay to put you and your family up in a hotel or short-term housing for the weeks or months that it might take before you can get back into your home or apartment after some calamity hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, you might hire a lawyer and successfully sue the neighbor or other party responsible for the damage if it\u2019s the fault of someone identifiable. Still, it could take months or longer to get a settlement <em>if<\/em> you win, or at least if the defendant has insurance or can afford to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does Renters Insurance Cover?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/do-i-need-renters-insurance-in-washington.jpg\" alt=\"young happy couple carrying boxes into new rented apartment\" class=\"wp-image-4207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/do-i-need-renters-insurance-in-washington.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/do-i-need-renters-insurance-in-washington-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/do-i-need-renters-insurance-in-washington-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/do-i-need-renters-insurance-in-washington-800x534.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who have cheap renters insurance find protection in these three general areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\"><li>Your personal possessions and the cost of repairing or replacing them if they\u2019re damaged, destroyed, or stolen<\/li><li>Liability protection if you\u2019re sued for damage to the property of neighbors because of incidents that start in your unit<\/li><li>Your housing expenses if you must temporarily leave the space you rent until it can be repaired<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to see the importance of having financial protection in each of these three areas, and you might be surprised to find that it\u2019s actually not expensive to carry this sort of coverage, despite how valuable it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Renters Insurance can Cost Pennies a Day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/renters-insurance\/get-renters-insurance\/\">Renters insurance in Seattle<\/a>, and the rest of the country, is incredibly affordable. As of 2018, the average cost for this coverage in the U.S. was just $179 a year. That breaks down to around half a dollar a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Types of Renters Insurance You can Buy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two main types of coverage you can buy. First, actual cash value policies pay up to the current value of the item that must be replaced. So if your couch is ten years old, your policy would pay for what a couch of that age and brand would cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, replacement cost coverage pays what the actual cost would be to replace the item. So if your three-year-old laptop was stolen, you\u2019d receive what it would cost to buy the new version of that same model. Replacement cost coverage is more expensive than actual cash value policies, but only by about ten percent. Those few additional dollars might well be worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Find Cheap Renters Insurance in Seattle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Vern Fonk Insurance is here to help you find the right renters insurance for your needs and budget. Start your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/renters-insurance-quote\/\">Seattle renters insurance quote<\/a> online, over the phone by calling us at <a href=\"tel:1-800-455-8276\">1-800-455-8276<\/a>, or at one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/locations\">our offices near you<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:19px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-vivid-red-background-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/renters-insurance-quote\/\">Get a Quote<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:18px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-2 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-vivid-red-background-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"tel:1-800-455-8276\">Call Us<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-3 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-vivid-red-background-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/locations\">Find Your Office<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Insuring your new home is a no-brainer. You have too much at stake to not carry adequate coverage. But what if you\u2019re renting? The place isn\u2019t even owned by you, so why would you purchase renters insurance? Are you required by law to do so? According to the Pew Research Center, these are all important [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-renters-insurance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4205"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4985,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4205\/revisions\/4985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernfonk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}