Lack of Renters Insurance Could Burn You

By Christa Avampato on Wednesday November 04, 2009
This post is about home ownership, insurance


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Christa is a product developer and writer based in NYC, and loves when art and business come together in equal amounts in her life. You can find her on Twitter, on Curating a Creative Life, her own blog about creativity, and as a weekly contributing writer to The Journal of Cultural Conversation. We first met Christa when she covered DailyWorth for Examiner.com.

Got renters insurance?

No?

On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, my apartment building caught fire, burning through three floors. I was on the 4th floor of a walk-up, no fire escape, no smoke alarms going off, buying iTunes on my laptop in my kitchen. As I was listening to Fleetwood Mac sing “Well, I’ve been afraid of changing ...” the kitchen floor started crackling. The adhesive that attached my kitchen tiles to my floor started to heave. I thought that the crew renovating the apartment below me was just working on the ceiling of that apartment.

apartment fireI had just gotten out of the shower so with sopping wet hair in my hang-around-the-apartment clothes, I grabbed my keys and intended to go downstairs and tell the contractors they were messing up my kitchen floor. I got halfway down the first flight of stairs and was completely consumed by black smoke so thick that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. » Terrifying. A few more minutes and I would have been trapped in my apartment with no way out. I got as low as I could, scrambled down the stairs, screaming, praying I wouldn’t die of smoke inhalation. Little did I know that I was running right by the very apartments that were burning. I’m lucky that I didn’t run right into the flames on the stairs or that the stairs themselves didn’t give.

The fire never reached my apartment but it was filled with smoke at one point, ruining most of my belongings. I had just moved in exactly three weeks before, and had finally finished getting the apartment all set up that Friday, the day before the fire broke out. Within days, there was an order to vacate issued by the City of New York, though I never spent another night in that apartment. I couldn’t. There was no way I’d ever feel safe there again. I surrendered the apartment, my lease was null and void, and I found a new place 5 blocks away.

So here’s what I learned that you need to know:
  1. Please buy renters insurance. Please. You may never need it, and you never know what your neighbors are doing in their apartment. I filed my claim on-line with Liberty Mutual in five minutes, they arranged for the movers, the fire restoration company, and the value assessment of my belongings. I received my first installment of the claim in a month, and the remaining amount will be to me in a few weeks. With any kind of building incident, the landlord is only responsible for the building itself, not your belongings. I have my policy through Liberty Mutual and I pay $181 a year for $25,000 worth of coverage. A bargain when you consider the stress and financial loss an incident like this can cause. And your belongings are insured wherever they are in the world. Worth every penny.

  2. Know your rights as a tenant. If there is an order issued to vacate or if the building is declared uninhabitable, you’re out of your lease. If not, then the situation is trickier legally. I have a close friend who is an attorney (and a darn good one) so her counsel and advice on how to handle my landlord really helped me. Get in touch with your city office over housing and read your rights carefully. In New York City, visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/tenants/tenants.shtml.

  3. Cash. You need that emergency fund. I am extremely fortunate in that I have a very good job and am a miser who saves 20% of my take-home income. I have not invested too much in the market so I had a stockpile of money in my savings accounts. This was critical to my peace-of-mind during this transition. At one point, I was out of pocket 6 months rent: 2 months from my apartment that I just moved out of (my deposit had not yet been returned by my landlord), my September rent and security from my fire-ruined building (I haven’t gotten that back yet), and the security and one month’s rent for my new place that I moved into after the fire. I needed to buy new clothes, new furniture, new just-about-everything, and if I didn’t have that cash, I would have had to wait for the claim. I was very lucky that Liberty Mutual took care of me so quickly. And in this kind of situation, you can’t count on luck.

  4. Mobilize your network of friends, family, and co-workers. People want to help people in a jam. Whether it’s someone to talk to, someone to tell you about an christa avampatoavailable apartment, someone to borrow some clothes from, or some place to stay temporarily, let people help you. I don’t take help easily. I pride myself on making “self-preservation a full-time occupation”. You can’t do that when things like this happen. You need people and they want to be there for you. Let them. I got on Facebook, Twitter, every on-line community I belong to, and sent a mass email to everyone I know telling them what happened. I had a new apartment in two days, in my same neighborhood, no broker fee, in my price range, available immediately, and much better space than I had before. This would never have happened without a lead from a friend.
  5. Your belongings, no matter how precious, are just stuff. Your health is the critical element in every situation. If you’re breathing, count your blessings. And to make getting you belongings replaced easier, take digital pictures of them and save receipts. The insurance company can replace it all. You are irreplaceable. Remember that.
Please -- go to an insurance company’s website (Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Geico, etc.) and buy coverage. It takes 5 minutes. Seriously.
Christa is a product developer and writer based in NYC, and loves when art and business come together in equal amounts in her life. You can find her on Twitter, on Curating a Creative Life, her own blog about creativity, and as a weekly contributing writer to The Journal of Cultural Conversation. We first met Christa when she covered DailyWorth for Examiner.com.
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written by Amanda , November 04, 2009
I have insurance through Liberty Mutual... They're extremely helpful and it was super easy. I pay once per year and am covered. HIGHLY recommend it since when you live in an apartment... Other peoples' problems become your problems, too. Good luck!
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written by Melanie Goodwin , November 04, 2009
When you buy renter's insurance make sure you get "replacement cost" coverage. This reimburses you to buy NEW replacement items (new clothes, furniture, etc). Otherwise you are only covered for the depreciated value of your destroyed items and will have to replace them with used things. My parents had a fire in their bedroom and would have had to replace their bedroom furniture with something equivalent to their 25 year old bedroom set if they hadn't had "replacement cost coverage". Since they did they were able to buy a brand new bedroom set instead of something used.
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written by Marie Ziv , November 04, 2009
Being in Real Estate, I would agree that Renter's Insurance is a must. You need to protect what you do have & what may be lost during a tragic accident. One never knows! As my parents use to say "better safe, than sorry!"
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written by Cara Miller , November 04, 2009
A site like Stashmate (currently in alpha watch for their new version in the January) is also peace of mind in a more serious fire. A great record of what you own for when you do get insurance.
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written by Christa Avampato , November 04, 2009
Thanks to everyone for your comments and I hope that this column is helpful for everyone out there. Amanda, I love this site - the posts have been such a great resource for me and I'm thrilled that I could give back to you and your readers by writing this piece!
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written by Amanda Steinberg (DailyWorth founder) , November 04, 2009
You are so welcome Christa! And I am so sorry that I misspelled "flammable" in the email subject today. I have 3 people on board to review DW before it goes out every day. You think I should use them?

I'm so thrilled that ever experiencing such horror you'd give back by sharing it with our extended community of now close to 4,000 subscribers!!
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written by Tia Persson , November 09, 2009
Dear Christa,
I am glad you are safe frome the fire. I have read other things you have written and I think you should be proud of your "inner mise". It had you prepared for this emergency and you have peace of mind in these stressful times. My husband and I have always been thrifty and it has helped us have peace of mind and take advantage of a good bargain. You make a good point about reaching out. Tia in Montana
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