How to Protect Yourself and Your Belongings If You Live in an Apartment

When we think of burglaries and property damage through natural events, we usually think of those who own homes suffering through these experiences. However, apartment dwellers are at as much risk as home owners and are usually less protected from the financial cost of these events.

If you’re an apartment dweller, make sure you take the appropriate steps to protect yourself, your family, and your belongings by following these simple steps:

Take Out Renter’s Insurance

Apartment dwellers often mistakenly believe that the landlord’s insurance protects their belongings, but that isn’t the case. Generally, the landlord’s insurance protects the house or apartment itself.

To protect your belongings, you need to take out renter’s insurance. This low cost policy (which typically only runs $100 to $150 a year) can protect your belongings from theft, fire, and other events.

In the case of a fire or other natural disaster where you’re displaced and need to find a different place to live, renter’s insurance often pays this expense as well.

Too many people make the mistake of not taking out this low cost policy, and then when the worst happens, such as a fire or burglary, they are left with nothing. Protect yourself with renter’s insurance.

Consider an Alarm System

If you live in an apartment, you are out of luck as far as a security system goes, right? Those are only for home owners, right?

Not so fast. The home security market is continuing to evolve. Now, there are security systems such as the SimpliSafe Alarm Systems that are perfect for apartment dwellers. You can buy it for just a few hundred dollars, install it yourself, and pay just $15 a month for 24 hour security monitoring.

This security system has a panic button as well as home monitoring. Now, even if you’re an apartment dweller, you can protect yourself and your belongings with a security system.

Remember, if you do have renter’s insurance but don’t have a security system, your apartment may be burglarized, and then you could be penalized by having your renter’s insurance premium increased because you filed a claim on your insurance. Paying for a low cost security system allows you to avoid the hassle and emotional toll of living through a break in or burglary.

There are plenty of ways to protect your apartment, property, and yourself. Don’t be complacent if you don’t own a home yet. Natural disasters and burglaries happen to apartment dwellers all the time.