Posted June 19 2008 by Dani Klein
My Advice: Buy Renter’s Insurance!
This past Friday night my wife and I experienced something that we hope no one else ever has to experience in their lives… fire. When we returned from our Shabbat dinner around the corner around 12AM, we saw 5 firetrucks surrounding our corner. My friends and neighbors quickly let us know that it was our apt that had been on fire.
We headed to the apt to find our convenient “Shabbat” combo-lock busted in. Walking into the apt, everything was black… covered in a film of soot. Baruch Hashem, the main damage was confined to the living room: our dining room table and chairs are torched. Everything else is either black from soot, or waterlogged from the firefighters.
Cause of the fire: officially unknown; potentially Shabbat candles; how it happened, we don’t really know.
Here’s the good news: everyone is OK, and… we have renter’s insurance! Today we met with our claims adjuster from Allstate and she was so nice, and so helpful. We are being reimbursed for every item of property we own that has been damaged, or even touched by soot (except things that can be reasonably cleaned).
Although we are not living at home, and may not be living at home for quite some time, my wife and I are at ease knowing that everything will be good as new, and that we didn’t lose thousands of dollars in possessions. Additionally, we have the option to stay in a hotel and have the insurance cover it! Awesome! We are currently staying by close friends across the street, but we can’t stay here forever and a hotel room would be nice.
In the end, my advice to EVERYONE, married or single, BUY RENTER’S INSURANCE!! Do your research, get multiple quotes, and speak to friends, but do it! I would recommend Allstate. They are treating us very nicely, and we should be getting a nice reimbursement check soon (if anything changes, I’ll be sure to note it here). We are paying under $300 for the year for a one-bedroom in Manhattan! And if you own your property, buy “homeowners insurance”.
So unless you think you’re impervious to theft, fires, or water damage, buy renter’s insurance!
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4 Comments currently posted. 
Dave Weinberg says:
CB says:
You’d assume that something like “leaving a fire burning with no one home” would not be covered by insurance…
but for 300 a year…
negligence covered…
live in a hotel…
sign me up and send me a box of matches!
Rachel Krich says:
We got Renters insurance after the fires in Southern CA this past summer. Half my Family had to evacuate and the only thing keeping them calm was “at least we have good insurance”.It cost us about 200 a year because we got it with State Farm who also insures our cars so we got a discount.
Dani says:
Good to hear that people are getting wise and taking advice from our loss.
Wow. Dani, that’s a crazy story. Really puts things into perspective. I had been thinking about adding rental insurance to our plan, guess I really need to now. Please keep us updated on your situation…
Please G-d, everything should quickly get back to normal.
Dave