Studies have shown that nationwide as many as 60 percent of renters don’t carry any insurance for their rented home, despite the fact that renters are more likely to be victims of property crime, theft, and burglary than people who own their home.

The reason most renters do not buy renters insurance appears to be because they think that in case of a lose, such as a fire or burglary to their rented property, that their landlord’s insurance policy will cover the lose or damage to their personal properties. This is not the case at all.  

If you live in a house or an apartment rented from the owner, you need to buy your own renters policy to insurance your own personal belongings in that house or apartment.

Renters insurance is relatively cheap. A typical renter’s policy can be purchased for as little as $150 a year. That is cheap when you consider the money you have tied up in computers, a big screen TV, stereo, DVD players, sofas, coffee table, dinning table, bedroom set, etc. It would cost a lot of money to replace if everything was stolen or burn up in a fire. The premium of a few hundred dollars a year for the renters insurance policy is small change for the peace of mind that the policy will bring. A renter’s policy typically covers losses due to theft or fire. Most policies also offer liability coverage in case you get sued or cause damage to someone else’s property.

Here are some pointers that may be helpful to you as you compare options to find the best renters insurance coverage for the cheapest price:

Buy enough coverage: Don’t buy more coverage that you need. Take inventory of what you own and calculate how much money it would cost if you had to replace everything to decide on your policy limits.

Shop around for the best price: Shop around and get different quotes from other insurance companies, even if you already do business with a company for you car insurance. If you want to keep all your insurance policy with the same company, use the renters insurance quotes from the other companies to negotiate with your current insurer. You will probably also get a discount with your current company for having both your auto and renters policy with them. 

Get a higher deductible to lower your premium: The lower your deductible, the higher yourpremium for the policy. One way to plan for the day when you have to responsible for the deductible is to put away the money that you would have had to pay for a lower deductible. After a few years without any claims, you may have enough money saved to treat your self to a nice dinner.

Ask about discounts: Like the multi policy discounts that insurance companies automatically give to their policy holders, ask about other discounts that the company may also offer, such as discounts for being a senior citizen, a non-smoker, member of a club or organization, or as an employee of a certain company. Insurance company typically also offer discounts to policy holders as incentives to take steps to prevent or minimize the risk of a loss, such as installing a security system, a smoke detector, or fire extinguisher in the apartment or house.

Actual cash value vs. replacement value: You are better off buying a policy with replacement value that will pay the actual cost of replacing a damaged or stolen item. With an actual cash value policy, the policy pays you the price of replacing an item after deducting depreciation based on the age and condition of the item. If you have a very old item that was stolen or damaged, the payout may be only of fraction of what it will cost you to replace the item. Replacement value policies are usually more expensive.

Buy an endorsement for big-ticket items: If you own expensive items such as jewelry or collectibles, buy a separate rider, or floater, for each item. A typical policy will have low limits on the amount of coverage for items such as jewelry and collectibles. To insure these items for more that the general limits, you have to insure them separately with individual endorsements, also called riders or floaters.

Liability insurance: In addition to insurance for your personal property, it’s a good idea to have liability insurance coverage to protect yourself from being sued if someone gets hurt while visiting your rented home. The liability coverage typically will pay a certain amount of the medical bills the injured person may have – regardless of who is at fault for the accident. You definitely should buy liability coverage if you have a dog. When you fill out the application for liability insurance, make sure you list the dog if you own one. If you already have a renter’s insurance policy but don’t have liability coverage, you can very easily add the optional coverage to the existing policy by letting you insurance company know and paying the additional premium.

Accidents happen when you don’t expect them and you should plan to deal with them in advance. Don’t risk losing everything you own. Protect yourself financially with a cheap renters insurance policy.