Renter’s insurance assures you that you’re protected against the damage or loss of personal property
when you rent an apartment or house. Your landlord may have insurance that protects the physical
building in which you reside, but this insurance will not cover your personal property. In fact, it’s not at all
uncommon for landlords to require the purchase of renters insurance prior to renting or leasing. This is
prudent for both the renter and the landlord, protecting both from the possibility of lawsuit by alleviating
each other’s respective liability.

In determining whether or not you need renters insurance, the questions you need to ask yourself are:
How much would it cost to replace my belongings if they were damaged or stolen? And can I afford to
replace them? Depending on your answer, renters insurance may be an easy choice, providing you with
the protection you need. Either way, it’s reassuring to have the peace of mind that comes from being
protected.

Things to consider before purchasing rental insurance:

How Much Coverage? – The amount of renters insurance you choose will have the biggest impact
on price of coverage. It is important to insure against all of your property. Remember, you’re not just
insuring against theft. In the case of a fire, for example, you could lose everything.

Deductible – The amount of the deductible premium that you’re willing to pay will have a major
impact on the premium costs. The higher the deductible, the lower the cost of home renters
insurance.

Actual Cash Value (ACV) – Type of coverage that will pay for what the item was actually worth at
the time of loss. This basic coverage payout is determined by the cost to replace, minus
depreciation.

Replacement Cost – Type of coverage that will provide for the actual
replacement value of the item with no deduction for depreciation. Although
replacement cost coverage comes at an additional premium, it’s usually
worth the relatively small increase in cost.

Here are a few ways to save on renters insurance. Many insurers will offer
discounts, if you have some of the following:

Monitored fire or burglar alarms
Fire extinguishers
Sprinkler systems
Dead bolts on all exterior doors
Auto insurance with that provider

If you own a dog, however, it may add to your premium. Due to liability issues,
some insurers won’t even offer insurance if certain dog breeds are owned. This
discrimination is exclusive to certain larger working dog breeds. It’s unfortunate
because many of these breeds are good-natured and provide a great deterrent
to theft. Yet, in the eye of the insurer, they’re a risk. The insurance companies
that do offer coverage for these breeds, will often do so at a premium.

Flood and Earthquake protection is not commonly included on rental insurance
policies. If you live in an area where these natural disasters are more common,
you may want to purchase an additional rider.

Liability coverage is most often a standard feature with renters insurance. This
can prove invaluable in case of an accident, such as a slip or fall by a guest. It
provides protection against legal claims that you may be obligated to pay, such
as injury, sickness and death. It is, however, limited to the amount of liability
coverage provided by your policy.

In order to avoid any disputes with your insurance company, it’s recommended that you take an inventory
of your personal items before purchasing rental insurance. This can be done by video taping or
photographing each room of your house. It is important to keep all receipts for any major purchases, as
well. The above should be kept offsite, in a fireproof safe or safety deposit box.

Fortunately, renters insurance is relatively inexpensive. If you’re looking for cheap renters insurance, it is
not uncommon to see policies with premiums that are less than $20 a month.
www.themoneyalert.com/rentersinsurance.html

When the Summer heat is near unbearable and you have to do laundry sometimes the last thing that you want to do is turn on the washer and dryer. There are some things that you can do to keep your house cool while you do
laundry and save on the amount of money that you spend on laundry while you do it.
If you have laundry that can be washed in cool water and you have laundry soap that dissolves in cool water consider washing your clothes in cool water. You will save on electricity because you won’t have to use the water heater and your home will not get as warm because the cool water will not put off steam and the water heater doesn’t have to heat up new hot water. Even if you don’t have laundry soap that is made to dissolve in cool water you can add the amount that you need to some warm water, let it dissolve, then change the washer to cool water and add your laundry.

Dryers really heat things up, and most of the time you have to run your dryer for anywhere from 30 minutes to nearly 2 hours depending on your dryer and what you are drying. That uses a lot of electricity. Hang drying your laundry is the easiest solution to not using the dryer. If you don’t have the option to hang dry your laundry outside hang it inside and place a fan or fans from behind it and they’ll blow cool air throughout the room as well as dry your clothes. Now you wouldn’t be saving as much money if you were not already using the fans in your home, but a fan is going to use a lot less electricity than a dryer, that is for sure.

If you do your laundry at a Laundromat, then you know that the quarters that you need will just add up. Although the washer and dryer won’t be heating up your home you can cool off your home if you take your washed
clothes back to hang dry and will save on the amount of quarters you would have used on the cost of using the dryer.
You might find that you don’t need to worry too much about the amount of heat that your washer and dryer are putting off in your laundry area is away from your main living area, such as in your basement, but remember by doing these things that keep your home cooler you will be saving money.

by Chey Conner, Yahoo! Contributor Network

As this is our website’s first blog, I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce The Rental Guide.

The Rental Guide has been around for 21 years. The original owner, Jon, started the business with an idea and one customer. Since then the magazine has grown and become a familiar site in businesses and establishments throughout southern and eastern Connecticut. Jon sold the business to me in October and I am thrilled to be part of this new adventure!

The print world is still an important and needed part of advertising. Believe it or not there is still a large number of people in Connecticut that do not use Google to find everything! In fact, as of June 2010, about 20% of the population in Connecticut are not internet users! (and yes I looked that up) And who are those people? Know one really knows for sure, but every month we print about 11,000 magazines and every month they disappear! So maybe……

Of course with 80% of the population on the World Wide Web, the internet is the place to be. We, here at The Rental Guide, want to be sure we are reaching 100% of the rental population. Therefore we are In Print and Online to get Seen Everywhere!