Don’t Let Your Clients Rent Trouble, Make Sure They Are Insured
As an agent, your goal is to make sure your clients are properly covered whether it is auto insurance, homeowners’ insurance, life insurance, etc.
How many individuals do you know who assume when renting a property for personal or business use believe their landlord’s insurance covers their property too? Unfortunately, many consumers make this costly mistake of thinking just that.
The simple answer to this issue is renters’ insurance.
As the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) points out, the majority of renters can purchase thousands of dollars worth of property and liability insurance coverage for under $20 a month.
Unfortunately, less than half of those individuals renting either an apartment or home have a renters’ policy.
For consumers who rent, too many of them simply underestimate the value of the personal possessions they’ve accrued over time.
Just as importantly, renters’ insurance protects individuals in the event people are injured at your residence by you, a family member or even a pet.
If you have clients who you insure under another coverage and they express an interest in renters’ insurance, keep in mind that there are a pair of policies available.
The first is actual cash value policy, whereby policyholders are compensated to replace their possessions which include subtracting a deduction for depreciation.
The other kind is a replacement cost policy, whereby the coverage will typically cost a minimum of 10 percent more due to the fact it pays policyholders the actual cost of replacing their goods, up to the policy limit.
With a renters’ insurance policy, your client’s possessions will be covered against losses from fire, smoke, windstorms, lightning, theft, vandalism and more.
Just as in the case of a standard homeowners’ policy, the renters’ coverage generally covers the individual’s added living expenses in the event they are not able to stay in their rental property due to fire or another covered peril.
In the event you have a client looking into renters’ insurance, the best way to go about deciding how much coverage to purchase is for them to do a home inventory. The inventory simply involves the user going from room to room, compiling an informative list of all their personnel items and the estimated value of each possession.
If you have clients either interested in or already a renters’ insurance policyholder, remind them the different ways they can save money on their policy:
- Grow the policy deductible from $250 to $500. The deductible is the figure policyholders must pay out-of-pocket prior to their insurance coverage kicking in. Increasing the deductible can lead to premium savings of up to 15 percent.
- Install smoke detectors, dead bolt door locks and a fire extinguisher to become eligible for premium discounts.
- Cease smoking. Some insurance companies offer decreased premiums to non-smokers due to the fact smoking is one of the main causes of residential fires.
If you are interested in selling renters’ insurance, keep in mind that cross selling is the way to go with renters.
Renters’ coverage is the connection to larger policies and word of mouth referrals, so rent yourself some good opportunities today.