The need for renters insurance
It’s something we think we’ll never need until it’s too late, renters insurance. It helps protect you in case almost anything happens to your apartment, but many people in southern Colorado don’t have it.
Renters insurance covers you and your valuables from various perils such as fire, smoke, theft and more. However, Linda Ousman with ALINK Insurance Services in Colorado Springs says not many people have it, I think a lot of people go uninsured because, for one, they think that they just don’t have enough to insure, but they don’t realize it has all these extra benefits,” Ousman says.
Some apartment complexes have mandatory renters insurance. Some start at $10 a month and covers about $15,000 in full replacement coverage if any items are stolen or damaged. It also covers about $100,000 if you cause the damage. Ousman says, “The insurance company is going to pay for the damage, the owner’s policy is, but they are going to come after you if you are the cause of loss.”
Other plans you get from insurance companies cover more at a slightly higher price. Ousman says typically, people will pay about $15 a month that covers about $20,000 in full replacement coverage, and about $300,000 for liability.
On Thursday, Colorado Springs city council member Richard Skorman said many of the tenants at the Sunstone Townhomes did have insurance, but the companies told them they would not help cover for damages. Ousman says that’s not right, “If I had a renters policy, I was renting in that building, someone else set the fire and my things went up in smoke, my renters policy is going to provide coverage for the damage or replacement of my things.”
About 70 tenants living at the Sunstone Townhomes lost their home on Monday when someone trying to extinguish their cigarette in potting soil and the flames spread to neighboring houses.
We reached out to Skorman to find out more about what the insurance companies said, but have not heard back.
Ousman says if the insurance companies will not cover the personal items these tenants lost, they could face a possible lawsuit.
