3 Scenarios That’ll Make You Wish You Had Renters Insurance

Despite being a responsible adult, you’re not averse to having a little fun. Sometimes you get home after a long night out partying with friends and forget to lock your door. There was another time when you were so excited about a meal you had made, you forgot to turn off the oven. You didn’t realize the oven was left on all night until your roommate texted you about it the following morning. Things happen, you can’t be perfect all the time. Sometimes letting your hair down means things slip through the cracks. For the most part though, you have things under control: you pay your bills, make healthy meals and call mom and pop once a week. You should be proud of yourself—you’re living the dream.


But for all of the good things you do and the extra steps you take to make sure to turn off the oven and lock the front door, accidents are waiting to happen. Here are three scenarios that’ll make you rethink this whole living without insurance thing.

The Burner is Burning

Running late for work one morning you scarf down your eggs, grab your coat and head out the door. Usually you double-check to make sure you’ve turned off the burner, but this morning you were in a rush. 

You left your stovetop on, and the wooden spatula sitting just a little too close. The spatula catches fire, and smoke starts filling the kitchen. The fire alarm goes off and all of your things are drenched in water.

After getting the emergency call about your apartment at the office, you rush home to see your new MacBook, big screen TV shot and your kitchen roasted. What are you going to do? How are you going to pay for all of this? That’s easy: file a claim on your renters insurance policy. Who knew the policy would still cover a situation in which you were, well, at fault?

The Blithering, Blundering Drunk

Late on a Friday night your roommate stumbles drunk into the apartment with a couple of friends in tow. You’ve told them repeatedly that you don’t like when their drunk friends are over, so this is definitely a sneak attack. You’re trying to sleep, but the noise is too much. They’re laughing about something when you hear a sudden crash in the kitchen.

Lying on the floor is your roommate’s drunk ex, and his ankle is swelling fast. You help take him to the couch and put ice on the ankle. Then you go back to bed, planning to have another awkward conversation in the morning.

A week goes by and you get a notice from the ex. He’s going to sue you for bodily injury. He claims the floor was slick when he fell. Apparently his being drunk had nothing to do with the fall.

This mess can all be avoided with renters insurance. When you compare renters liabilityinsurance quotes online with sites like CoverHound, you can find an affordable insurance package that’ll cover the drunk ex’s medical bills without raising your premium.

The Lazy Dog Owner

Finding an apartment complex that is pet friendly can be tough. Even if they do allow pets, they only permit certain breeds and demand complete records of your pet to determine its social history with humans and other animals.

You decide that you’ll wait a couple more years to get a pet and you go ahead and sign the year’s lease along with the girl you met through your Craigslist ad, now you’re both roomies! The thing is, this new roommate of yours has a small dog and refuses to pay the pet deposit, despite telling you that she’ll be doing so later in the week. So, she’s decided to bring the dog home in secret and will keep the poor thing locked up in her room while she’s at work. 

Contrary to your new roommate’s promises, the dog runs amok. Not just that, but he’s not potty-trained or well-socialized. The carpets are stained with blooming urine puddles and smelly dog pies, and whenever you attempt to sit on the couch, the dog nips at you. The dog has ripped apart pairs of shoes, bags and other items when he somehow got into your room. 

Your landlord comes to find out about the “hidden” miscreant and charges you for damages to the apartment. You had no idea the dog was a secret and demand your roommate pay the damages and reimburse you for your half of the security deposit. Then, one day, the roommate is gone, and her little dog too.

With renters insurance you can file a claim about the dog (as the dog was not yours and you didn’t know about its “alien” status) and get coverage for the damages to your personal belongings and even the apartment. Frankly, why don’t you have renters insurance already? Go get it! You’ll be more than glad you did. Image creadit: nerdwallet.com