Renter's insurance - what happens when you make a claim? is it worth it?

Some rental offices require it. Many policies protect the building against damage you do (fire, flood, etc), not just your own stuff. But yeah, USAA is the best.

I'm less concerned about my stuff getting stolen than I am about the liability aspect. I have a small dog who is super well behaved but also kind of an idiot, and I do want to be covered in the (unlikely but certainly possible) event that my dog does something like bolts down the stairs and trips up a neighbor who gets injured. Happened to my parents. Dog slipped out of the house when the door was open, ran into the street, and startled a neighbor lady out jogging who fell and busted her face up pretty badly. My parents' homeowners insurance covered her medical bills. My renter's insurance would do the same.

I don't have renter's insurance for if my bike gets stolen, I have renter's insurance for if a pipe bursts. If a car drives into my building (not a long shot at this intersection). Or if my building catches on fire. Especially if I accidentally started it. And it hurt someone. That's worth $100/year to me. Most providers will tell you what the claims process is like. And as three_red_balloons says, inventories aren't all that painless. As for the premium, you're at $100: what's a big hike? $115?

One other thing renter's insurance will generally cover is losses or damage as a result of moving. Moving's such a likely time for random disaster of all sorts that I think it's worth it to have insurance for that time in particular. I've been lucky in not having any reason to make a claim myself yet, but I've known enough people who've suffered huge losses as a result of disasters they couldn't predict or stop (fire, upstairs tenant left town and their pipes broke, etc.) that I don't want to end up in that situation when I could avoid it for roughly the same annual cost as Amazon Prime.

I made a claim when I got doored riding my bike (somehow this was covered by my renter's insurance even though it happened nowhere near my apartment, but rather while I was riding around on the street) and the frame got sufficiently bent up that I was told that I'd have to replace it. (I didn't check this at the time, which is why I was making a claim on my renter's insurance rather than insisting that the driver's insurance handle it.) It was absurdly smooth. I told the the insurance rep what had happened, filled out a report, and said how much replacing it would cost, and ... they sent me a check for that amount. They didn't even ask for a receipt. Perhaps this is just the magic of USAA, though.

The two main things, which have probably been covered already but also bear restating: 1. The deductible. A policy with a 2k deductible is fucking useless. If your laptop gets stolen, and you probably have a laptop that cost less then the deductible, what's the point?(Note: this happened to me, i wasn't the one carrying the insurance on the place so i wasn't aware this was the deductible) I don't think i'd ever go higher than like, $500. 2. Depreciated value vs replacement cost. I wouldn't even bother paying for insurance that was depreciated value ever again. It usually comes out to less than what you could even buy a somewhat worn version of whatever your thing was on craigslist. If my ceiling leaks and my $1200 CoolThing is ruined, i want to go out and just buy a freaking new one. Not get some paltry amount and try and find a 5 year old one on craigslist. #1 can be flexed if you really only want to insure against like, your place getting ransacked by thieves or burning down. #2 i would seriously never bother on. I'd rather pay twice as much to have an actually useful service.

I've got State Farm, it was worth it last year when I was robbed and about $10k of computers and cameras were taken. It was relatively painless, I submitted some kind of form/spreadsheet with all of the receipts I had (most things were bought online, so I had that in my email). A couple of things here and there they just took my word on. They sent me a depreciated amount first, and then I had to submit receipts for replacement items once I bought them and they sent me the rest. That happened pretty fast, but I've had to call every time I send a new one in to make sure a human sees it. I did file a police report (rather, my friend did as I was out of town). The insurance company definitely wanted it, and I followed up more with the police than I would have on my own, on the insurance company's request. My premiums went up about $1 a month, but they inch up a little every year or so anyway. I can tell you that I'm a lot happier paying my premium every month now. I've had it for 5 or 6 years and was starting to feel like it was a waste of money. It was really nice to have a major robbery (at least from my point of view) be basically nothing more than an administrative inconvenience.

I had a side gig for a few years repairing computers that had smoke or water damage from fires. Those with renters insurance were in a much better way - they could afford the data recovery, the could afford to have the smoke smell removed or the machine replaced, etc etc.. Insurance (at least as far I was knew - I always got paid) covered all of that. Those without... Well, I did what I could, but they were often cost constrained.

I just recently had to replace some electronics (TV, DVR, etc) due to a freak lightning strike a few weeks ago. I had to send them model numbers of the items I was replacing. I sent them pictures too, but I don't remember if that was required. I submitted online, and then a representative called me back. They wanted me to have a repairman look at the TV and verify that it was dead, but in my case I was able to use the receipt I got from Comcast when I exchanged my wireless router that was also fried. They said that was proof enough, and direct deposited my money (minus my deductible). Super easy. I think it took about a week to process. And in my case totally worth it because I don't have the money to replace them otherwise. If I had an item that I had made modifications to, I think I would just take pictures of the modifications and save them in case of future need. Receipts would be better, but photos should help. Also, my apartment complex requires me to carry renters insurance. But I would never rent without it, because I can't afford to replace my big ticket items.