If you rent an apartment, you may not be thinking about renters’ insurance. However, the right renters’ insurance can be a huge asset in case your apartment has a problem.

In my case, my water heater broke. Even though the leak was caught and stopped within a few minutes, about an eighth of an inch of water covered almost my entire apartment. In those few minutes, twelve pieces of furniture, six rugs, and 800 square feet of flooring sustained considerable water damage, as well as a laptop in a case and other items. After the leak was stopped, I called my renters’ insurance company to report the damage. I was amazed what my policy had bought me: not only repair to my furniture, and replacing or cleaning the rugs — that I expected — but since I run a business from my home, I was given a place to live; money to rent a temporary office space; flood remediation service (including six fans and a dehumidifier to dry everything out, and help on the electric bill to run all those fans); a scan for mold; moving my piano to storage, then bringing it back and servicing  and tuning it; a packing service to pack away everything breakable and small items that might be lost, as well as unpacking it and putting it all away; and even a maid service to clean up the mess once I moved back in to my home!

Although no amount of money could make up for the inconvenience and upset caused by the water heater breaking, it was nice to know that my insurance company was able to put most things back to the state they were in before my apartment was flooded. So, if you have been putting off buying renters’ insurance, don’t wait any longer. Discuss what is available with an insurance agent, and let them help you select a policy. Although the normal thinking is “This won’t happen to me,” and often, it won’t, something as simple as a water heater leaking for ten minutes can disrupt your life for a month or more, and you cannot afford to be without insurance when that happens. As for me, I will never complain about paying my renters’ insurance bill again — the $500 a year I spent for $100,000 worth of contents coverage, $30,000 worth of living expenses, scheduling my expensive property, and all the rest, is well worth the cost considering the disruption that something as simple as a broken water heater can cause!