One of the great things about renter's insurance is that it's so versatile. It covers not only your belongings in your home, as you'd expect, but also your belongings that might not be in your home, or that might not fit your idea of something that you could claim. When you set up your policy, take the time to discuss just how wide-ranging the coverage is because you could be pleasantly surprised at how much protection you've just gotten for your material goods.

Your Storage Unit

Do you have anything in a storage unit, or are you planning to place items in one? Your renter's insurance will cover the items there, so there's no need to have a separate policy through the storage facility. Most storage companies want you to have an insurance policy that covers what's in your storage unit and will happily sign you up for one of their own policies. But you can save money by canceling that policy and just using your own home renter's insurance to cover the unit.

Personal Items in Your Car

Your renter's policy extends to personal items you had in your car. For example, if you were moving a bunch of belongings, and someone broke into the trunk and took some, your car insurance might cover some of those, but your renter's insurance should cover them easily. (This is actually a good reason to bundle your car and renter's insurance through the same agent as it makes payment in situations like these a lot smoother.)

Food in the Fridge

Renter's policies occasionally cover the food in your refrigerator. If you went through a power outage that was due to unusual circumstances beyond your control, and the outage was long enough to cause the food in your refrigerator to spoil, you could get reimbursed for the lost food. This coverage tends to have a lot of restrictions and may not always be something you can rely on. However, if you have lost food due to a power outage that affected your neighborhood, was unplanned, and was due to unusual circumstances, talk to your agent and see if you can get any funds reimbursed to buy new food.

Your Liability in Others' Homes

Your renter's insurance may actually cover you in other people's homes. If you break something in another home, the liability portion of your renter's policy might cover the cost of fixing or replacing the item. Again, this is something you have to double-check with your agent, but it does give you some extra protection.

You'll also have a chance to add riders to the policy to get even more coverage. Your insurance agent can walk you through all this and help you create the perfect policy for you.

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