Do You Need Flood Insurance for an Apartment?

When it comes to renting a place to live, whether it be an apartment, home, or condo, a lot of the insurance responsibilities will fall to the landlord. This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for insurance completely, however. Not only is insurance often necessary in an apartment, but it may even be required.

Why Do Landlords Require Insurance?
Landlords often require renters insurance, which covers personal belongings and general liability for the renter. Contrary to popular belief, your landlord’s insurance will not cover the cost of replacing your belongings after a disaster—including a flood. Flood insurance isn’t always required. There are only certain areas and states that may require renters to carry flood insurance along with their renters insurance policy.
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Renters insurance doesn’t generally cover flood damage, so you will have to purchase a separate flood insurance policy to cover your items.

What Does Flood Insurance Cover in an Apartment?
Your landlord is responsible for insurance when it comes to the physical structure of the apartment. For example, if you live on the bottom floor and a flood damages your floors, your landlord’s flood insurance is responsible for covering the damages. Their insurance won’t cover your personal property, however. Flood insurance provides compensation if your personal belongings are damaged or destroyed due to a flood. As with renters insurance, flood insurance has limits on certain expensive items such as jewelry, art, furs and electronics.

How Much Does Flood Insurance Cost for an Apartment?
Since flood insurance for a renter covers belongings instead of property, the cost primarily depends on the replacement cost value of the insured items. There are two ways to receive compensation: actual cash value and replacement cost value. Replacement cost value will help replace your items with one of equal or similar value without accounting for depreciation while actual cash value accounts for depreciation. So if the market value of your laptop goes down over time, so will the amount of compensation you receive. Actual cash value is usually the cheaper policy, but is also less likely to completely replace your items.

On average, renters may pay around $700 a year (about $58.33 a month) for flood insurance. This number also depends on your location, claims history and the level of risk you are at. If you live on the bottom floor in a high-risk area, you will likely pay more for flood insurance.

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