Renters insurance provides financial protection against the loss or destruction of your possessions when you rent a house or apartment. While your landlord may be sympathetic to a burglary you have experienced or a fire caused by your iron, destruction or loss of your possessions is not usually covered by your landlord’s insurance. Because in most cases, renters insurance covers only the value of your belongings, not the physical building, the premium is relatively inexpensive.

By purchasing renters insurance, your possessions are covered against losses from fire or smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm and water damage (not including floods). Like homeowners insurance, renters insurance also covers your responsibility to other people injured at your home or elsewhere by you, a family member or your pet and pays legal defense costs if you are taken to court.

Renters insurance covers your additional living expenses if you are unable to live in your apartment because of a fire or other covered peril. Most policies will reimburse you the difference between your additional living expenses and your normal living expenses but still may set limits as to the amount they will pay.

There are two types of renters insurance policies you may purchase:

1. Actual Cash Value – pays to replace your possessions minus a deduction for depreciation up to the limit of your policy
2. Replacement Cost – pays the actual cost of replacing your possessions (no deduction for depreciation) up to the limit of your policy

With either policy, you may want to consider purchasing a floater. A standard renters policy offers only limited coverage for items such as jewelry, silver, furs, etc. If you own property that exceeds these limits, it is recommended that you supplement your policy with a floater. A floater is a separate policy that provides additional insurance for your valuables and covers them for perils not included in your policy such as accidental loss.

​It’s likely that you depend on your homeowner or residential insurance policy to handle losses connected to your hobby or activities. A homeowner (HO) policy usually includes a definition of “business.” A given policy may use a definition so broad that nearly any activity qualifies as a business. In such instances, a hobbyist or enthusiast should consider whether business insurance is necessary.

Let’s say you love photography and you take pictures at weddings and other events to finance this passion. While you consider this to be a hobby, your insurer may define your activities as a business. If your camera equipment is stolen or damaged, there may be as little as $250 protection under your HO policy. HO coverage for business property differs depending on whether it is located at or away from your residence.

Imagine the photography situation again. This time, you’re at a wedding job and have just set-up a perfect shot of the bridal party. As you are snapping a few shots, a large boom stand with hot lighting equipment tips over, injuring the maid of honor and the flower girl. A homeowner policy may exclude coverage if the injured women sue you since the injury is part of a business activity.

There are numerous types of sales and service jobs. These include cosmetics, clothing, kitchen supplies, home decorator items, computer repair, web site design, photography, music lessons, auto repair and many contractors. Each job involves some type of business property that is excluded or severely limited under the homeowner policy. Therefore, each situation may need to be covered by business insurance.

Although independent consultants are in business, too often they think their HO policy will provide coverage because they don't have special equipment or leave their home office to run their business. Office furnishings such as laptops, iPads, desks, chairs and file cabinets are subject to HO policy limitations. Without adjustments to the homeowner policy there may be little or no coverage for property used in a business.
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The legal form of the business may create a need for business insurance. If a limited liability company, corporation or partnership is formed, the related activity is a business and needs business coverage. Also, most HO policies will not provide coverage for employees or for any professional liability.
What can you do? First, determine if your activities qualify as a business. Then talk to one of our insurance professionals to determine what coverage is provided by the policies you currently have and what options are available to fill-in any gaps in protection.

​Assuming payments are made on time, it does happen from time to time that a home insurance provider chooses to drop one of their clients. This isn’t common, but is possible. Luckily, it's not that hard to stay in good standing with your insurer. Here are the most common causes for being dropped by a provider:
Too Many Claims
The average homeowner only files a claim around once a decade. That doesn't mean that filing twice in ten years will see you being dropped, but if you're filing on an annual basis, that's going to raise some red flags with your provider. Insurance is best reserved for severe damages that cannot easily be handled out of pocket.
Failing to Make Necessary Repairs
Your insurer may ask you to do some critical maintenance in order to remain covered. More times than not, this means the roof. An old roof can lead to cumulative water damage, and many insurers feel that someone who won't replace an old roof is too big of a risk to cover.
Pets
Your new pet is probably not going to have you looking for a new insurer, but some insurers will make exceptions for certain dog breeds and high-risk pets. And insurers will almost certainly drop you if multiple dog-bite liability claims have been filed. It's simply a legal risk that many insurers feel is not worth it.

• Other reasons may simply be out of your hands. If your insurer goes out of business or decides not to cover your state anymore, you're going to need to go shopping for a new home insurance provider.
• ​To avoid being dropped, your best course of action is to make sure that your home is in good shape, and to only rely on home insurance for disasters and major expenses. You don't need to file a claim every time a window breaks or a garage door is dented. Insurance isn't really a maintenance fund, it's a "just in case" safety net. So long as that's how you use your policy, you should have no problems staying covered.

If you're lucky, you might never need to make a major home repair. Cars, on the other hand, will eventually need some parts replaced. Tires don't last forever, and neither do spark plugs, brake pads or timing belts. So, it's worth asking whether auto insurance will cover those replacements when they need to be made.
The answer is no. Car insurance will not cover normal wear and tear. In fact, if you are in an accident because you failed to maintain your car, such as driving on bare brake pads, your auto insurance provider might not approve your claim.​
The reasoning is simple: Car insurance is designed to cover unexpected damages and losses. A smashed windshield, a stolen car, liability costs. Wear and tear damages are losses that we can plan for.
You can generally expect your provider to cover damages and losses relating to the following causes:

• Theft
• Vandalism
• Traffic accidents
• Damages suffered while parked (a falling tree, for instance)

You can generally not expect your insurer to cover damages and losses such as the following:

• Bald tires
• Worn brake pads
• Exterior rust
• Ripped or worn out upholstery
• Electrical problems
• Worn down axles

It is a general rule of thumb in insurance that you cannot expect the anticipated to be covered. Insurance will not cover the inevitable, only the possible. Even if damages or losses are common, there is a good chance that you can find a provider. If damages or losses are unavoidable, there's simply no motive for insurers to cover the risk.​
Further, insurers do expect you to take good care of whatever it is that you are insuring. A homeowner who discovers a leaky pipe and simply leaves it to drip will likely see their claim rejected when they file for the damages they've suffered as a result. The same goes for your car. If you want to make sure that you are covered in the event of an accident, make sure that anything that needs to be replaced is replaced. Also remember to take the vehicle in for regular maintenance.

​What is unclaimed property?
Unclaimed property (sometimes referred to as abandoned) refers to accounts in financial institutions and companies that have had no activity generated or contact with the owner for one year or a longer period. Common forms of unclaimed property include savings or checking accounts, stocks, uncashed dividends or payroll checks, refunds, traveler's checks, trust distributions, unredeemed money orders or gift certificates (in some states), insurance payments or refunds and life insurance policies, annuities, certificates of deposit, customer overpayments, utility security deposits, mineral royalty payments, and contents of safe deposit boxes.

What happens to these accounts that have no activity?

Acting in the best interest of consumers, each state has enacted an unclaimed property statute that protects your funds from reverting back to the company if you have lost contact with them. These laws instruct companies to turn forgotten funds over to a state official who will then make a diligent effort to find you or your heirs. Most states hold lost funds until you are found, returning them to you at no cost or for a nominal handling fee upon filing a claim form and verification of your identity. Since it is impossible to store and maintain all of the contents that are turned over from safe deposit boxes, most states hold periodic auctions and hold the funds obtained from the sale of the items for the owner. Some states also sell stocks and bonds and return the proceeds to the owner in the same manner.

How do states try to return this money?

The state treasurers and other officials who administer the unclaimed property programs have developed many powerful and effective methods to locate owners including the use of websites, cross-checking public data, staging thousands of awareness events at state fairs and even shopping malls, and developing a national database, MissingMoney.com. The methods work as tens of millions of potential lost owners inquire annually resulting in this vital consumer protection program returning money to people at a rate approaching two billion dollars annually.

How do I begin my free search?

Companies are required by law to send funds from lost accounts to the state of the owner's last known address. That means you could potentially have unclaimed property in every state that you have resided. You might want to begin your search on Missing Money, a Web site officially endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) containing the official collective records from most state unclaimed property programs. NAUPA will link you to every state unclaimed property program Web site where you can search. Both sites are free. 

Red-light cameras may seem technologically cut-and dry, but that's far from reality. They've saved lives, but they've also stirred up more controversy than most other traffic control devices on the roads to date. See how knowledgeable you are about some of the more picayune and esoteric aspects of this growing debate.
Start the Quiz
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/red-light-camera-quiz1.htm
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