Welcome to your Renters Insurance 101 crash course!  You might wonder what exactly your renters insurance premiums pay for….

Dog bites?  Yes.  To clarify, your renters insurance policy provides coverage for medical payments and liability.  The medical payments coverage provides coverage for medical bills incurred after a dog bite.  Think of it as a good will type of coverage.  Your insurance policy pays the medical bills for someone else.  Additionally, if you need more than the medical payments limit, your liability coverage will take over.

A trampoline?  Yes.  Firstly, your renters insurance policy provides coverage for personal belongings damaged by a covered peril.  Secondly, your policy also pays for medical bills if someone is injured on your trampoline.

Stolen items?  Yes.  Your renters insurance will pay for the items to be replaced if they are stolen.  However, most policies have limits  for certain items.  Jewelry, firearms, trailers, boats and fine arts are covered for very specific limits.  If you own a lot of these types of items, you should purchase a separate policy to provide higher limits.

Stolen cash?  Maybe.  Your renters insurance contains a limit on how much will be paid for theft of cash.  Typically, it a very low limit such as $200.  Consider keeping minimal amounts of cash on hand to lower your risk.

Water damage?  Maybe.  If a pipe bursts and causes damage to your personal belongings, your renters insurance pays to repair or replace the damaged items.  But, your renters insurance policy will probably not cover flood or water backup through a sewer or drain line.  You can purchase different types of insurance for flood and water backup.