Renter's Insurance from a Student's Perspective
What is renter's insurance?
As a student, renter's insurance provides protection for your personal
property in case of many events including fire, theft, and vandalism. In addition to this,
renter's insurance can protect a renter against personal liability.
Why should I get renter's insurance?
Your landlord's policy likely only covers the building and
not your personal belongings. Entertainment equipment, jewellery,
artwork, furniture, and other valuable possessions are likely not covered. Most students are
under the misapprehension that they don't own valuable enough property to justify insurance. This
is untrue. The average renter owns about $20,000 worth of personal property, including clothing,
computers, TVs, CDs, and sports equipment. Renter's insurance is a convenient and cheap way to
protect this valuable property.
In addition to the risk to personal property, as a renter,
you may not be protected from personal liability if you damage a
neighbour's property, or if someone is injured on your property.
Renter's insurance can protect you against this liability by providing
up to $1,000,000 worth of personal liability protection.
How do I go about getting renter's insurance?
Local insurance providers can provide you with renter's insurance and can
likely give you a quote over the phone or internet. Some major banks also provide renter's
insurance and may prove to be a convenient choice for students. A great place to start is to
check out a couple of providers by searching the internet. In the end, renter's insurance is an
affordable and advisable way for students to protect their valuable possessions.
Matt Gemmel is a law student and advocate with UNB's
Student Legal Information Centre. This article is intended to provide information of a personal
nature only and not legal advice.
This information was provided by Matt, you can reach him
and other law students at slic@unb.ca if you have any other
questions.