Fire highlights need for renters insurance

Jan. 31--Nobody thinks they're going to lose their possessions in a fire or flood.

But while no one expects such a tragedy to befall them, sometimes it still does, and many people who rent a home or apartment don't have their possessions insured, even if they think they do.

Waynesville Fire Chief Joey Webb said that in situations like the recent Suyeta Park Apartment fire, it's heartbreaking to douse a fire and later find out that person or family living there isn't covered.

"To get back in the truck and drive away knowing they don't have anything is really disheartening," Webb said. "You think it's never going to be you, but sometimes it is."

State Farm Insurance Agent Angie Franklin, who works out of Waynesville, said she sees the same thing all too often.

"I do think it's very important," she said. "And I do see there's a lot of stuff like this on TV, and it breaks my heart when people don't have insurance, especially when it's so inexpensive."

Franklin and Webb both said that often people think the property owner's insurance covers their stuff, but it doesn't.

"Renters insurance protects your personal property," she said. "There's a lot of confusion when someone rents an apartment, when something happens the person who owns that is responsible for their personal property but they're not."

A lot of people think they can't afford renters insurance, but it's actually surprisingly cheap. While she said rates vary based on a number of things, including whether the property has sprinklers and alarms and whether the policy is bundled with another insurance policy. However, she said a broader average rate is somewhere between $75 and $125 per year.

"You can get renters insurance for as low as $50 per year," she said.

While a lot of people get covered for amounts like $20,000, Franklin said some people who have a lot of furniture or expensive art will get covered for up to $150,000. And while many people think they wouldn't need much, Franklin encourages clients to think about everything they own, from more expensive items like electronics to cheaper items like the clothes in their closets. Her message: it all adds up.

"People think $5,000 is plenty but when they look at everything they realize it's not," Franklin said. "I actually have a worksheet I can give to clients for them to go through to write them down."

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