Rental and Hurricane Insurance for Roosevelt Islanders

The Sunday NY Times Real Estate sections had a valuable article on insurance for renters.

... a basic renter’s policy not only provides coverage for theft, it also provides coverage for personal property and liability coverage for personal injury to others,” Ms. Salvatore said.

Robert Owens, the president of the Owens Group, an insurance brokerage in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., says many renters who do not have their own insurance believe they are adequately covered by the building’s insurance policy. “The renter’s personal property is not going to be covered by the building’s policy,” Mr. Owens said.

Renters can choose between two types of coverage. “Actual cash value” coverage pays to replace damaged items after taking depreciation into account. “Replacement cost” coverage pays to replace the property at today’s cost. The premium for replacement coverage is typically about 10 percent higher.

Besides deciding between actual-cash-value and replacement-cost coverage, renters must also choose a “named peril” or “all peril” policy. A named-peril policy specifies what risks are covered, like fire, windstorm, hurricane and theft, and excludes everything else. An all-peril policy covers all risks except those specifically excluded, like flood and earthquake.

“With all-risk coverage, if you are having a party and someone spills a glass of red wine on your white couch, the damage to the couch would be covered,” Mr. Owens said. “With a named-peril policy, it wouldn’t be.”

Also, today's NY Times reports on a proposed New York State hurricane insurance fund:

New York regulators are proposing that insurance companies set aside extra money to pay for damage in the event of a significant hurricane, seeking to ease, at least in the state, the soaring premiums faced by millions of Americans along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. But insurers have expressed reservations.

Image is from The Insurance Policy.