You return home to find that the lock on your front door is broken. Your apartment is trashed. Valuables gone. Now what?
Fortunately, policies for renters insurance cover theft. Your policy won’t pay for the fear, anger, and emotional loss after a break-in, but it will help replace personal belongings. It will handle a lot of the material cost. You can start replacing the phone, laptop, and other big-ticket items.
But how do you use your renters insurance coverage? What’s covered and what’s not? What do you do first? What’s the process in filing a claim on your renters insurance in Georgia for stolen items?
Here’s what you need to know.
The Basics of Theft Coverage in Renters Insurance
You carry renters insurance in Georgia for several reasons. Some property owners won’t even rent to you if you don’t have a policy.
Beyond recovering from theft, it offers liability protection in case someone sues you for bodily injuries or personal property loss on your premises. It will pay for items damaged by fire, smoke, internal flooding, weather-related events, or other calamities. It even covers the expense of temporary housing while your damaged apartment is being restored. Even your possessions stored off-site are covered if lost or damaged.
And finally, it will pay for the loss of your personal property after a break-in. Can you come up with an extra $2,000 to replace your laptop? That’s the high cost of skipping renters insurance – having to pay out of pocket for your belongings that are stolen.
What Is Covered Under Theft Protection?
Your stuff. All of your personal property lost to theft is covered by our renters insurance policy to some extent. This even includes items stolen from your car or an off-site storage facility. Here’s how your renters insurance covers theft in Georgia.
Coverage Limits and Sub-Limits
You set the financial limit for claims against your policy. As you might imagine, the higher your coverage limit, the more you’ll pay for your premiums. So don’t set your limit too high, but make sure it’s enough to cover the cost of your stolen items.
That means first taking a rough inventory of your personal property. Get a ballpark estimate of what it might cost you to replace your possessions if they’re damaged or stolen.
Your renters insurance might also contain sub-limits. That’s the lower limit your insurer might agree to pay for items in certain categories. That might include art, jewelry, certain collectibles, and electronics.
If you notice a sub-limit on a category of your possessions that you don’t think would adequately replace them if they were stolen, ask about getting an endorsement, or rider. That’s a form of add-on coverage that will pay to place a higher repayment limit on that category of personal property.
You’ll also want to consider your deductible. That’s the dollar amount you agree to pay before your insurer covers the rest of your claim. If you have a $1,000 deductible on your plan and the break-in results in $5,000 in covered losses, you’ll be responsible for the first $1,000 in covered losses, and your insurer will pay the remaining $4,000.
This is always a balancing act. The higher your deductible, the lower your premiums, since your insurer won’t have to pay so much in claims. However, you’ll have to pay more out of pocket before your insurer cuts a check.
Crunch the numbers with your agent and see what mix of deductible and premium works best for your budget.
Actual Cash Value vs. Replacement Cost Value
You’ll also have to determine whether you want your policy to cover actual cash value (ACV) or the replacement cost value (RCV) of your covered personal property.
Actual cash value refers to the item’s current value, while the replacement cost value bases the claim amount on the cost to replace the item. For instance, if you have a 5-year-old computer, its ACV — that is, its current worth — might be $400. But if you had to replace your stolen 5-year-old computer with a new model, the latest version of that same device might cost $2,000.
As you might imagine, a policy that replaces your stolen items at ACV costs less, but results in lower claims checks. So both methods have advantages and drawbacks.
It pays to determine the benefits and details of your policy carefully and to know what’s covered and to what limit. Discuss your concerns with your renters insurance agent and consider adjusting limits if you need to increase your sense of financial security.
Steps to Take After a Break-In
In the shock of walking into a ransacked apartment, you might have problems organizing your thoughts, so here’s some insight before you need it.
Immediate Actions
File a police report. Dial 9-1-1 as soon as you notice your apartment has been burglarized. Don’t even go into your unit until the police can assure you that there’s no one still there.
While law enforcement is still on the scene, take a survey of your premises and tell them what appears to be missing. This will go into their report, a copy of which will be sent to your insurance company.
Use your phone to shoot evidence of the break-in, and begin to list the stolen items. Don’t worry if you discover additional items missing after you’ve filed your police report. That’s to be expected.
Next, contact the property owners so they can replace locks or make other necessary repairs and adjustments to make your residence more burglar-proof.
Filing an Insurance Claim
Don’t wait long. As soon as you file the police report and contact your property manager, get hold of your renters insurance broker. They’ll take it from there, after perhaps asking you a few questions and getting photos and other evidence of personal property lost to theft. Answer all of their questions accurately and completely.
FAQs About Renters Insurance
Get answers to some of the more commonly asked questions regarding renters insurance in Georgia and theft coverage.
How Does Renters Insurance Cover Theft from My Car or Garage?
It’s covered up to your policy’s coverage limits. In fact, your standard policy even protects off-site possessions, such as personal property at a storage facility.
Are Stolen Packages Covered by Renters Insurance?
Yes, packages left on our porch, by your door, or in shared hallways are covered under your policy.
But keep in mind, if the value of the items is less than your deductible, you won’t be reimbursed. However, you’ll still want to file a claim to document that you’ve used a portion of your deductible. This means that, if you have a $500 deductible and the package value is $100, you only have $400 remaining on your annual deductible before your insurer will pay the rest of your next covered claim.
Are Roommates’ Belongings Covered Under My Renters Insurance Policy?
No. Your policy only covers your own possessions. Each roommate should have their own policy.
How Does Renters Insurance Handle Stolen Property With No Receipts?
Your insurer will estimate each item’s fair market value based on actual cash value or replacement cost value, depending on the policy you bought. You can challenge the estimate if you think it’s too low, perhaps by sending links to the same goods being sold at a higher price.