It is possible to share renter's insurance with a roommate, but this doesn't mean you should do it every time you have a roommate. You need to evaluate your roommate first to ensure they won't give you any problems with the insurance coverage. Answer these five questions to help you with the evaluation:
How Many Houses Has the Roommate Occupied Recently?
The answer to this question will help you determine whether your roommate moves frequently. A roommate who relocates too often shouldn't be on your renter's insurance. This is because you will have to go through the hassle of removing them from the policy. This may include deciding what to do with the bills for the remainder of your policy's term.
Does Your Roommate Have Expensive Items?
You may have a problem if your roommate has more expensive tastes than you since you will have unbalanced possessions; your roommate is likely to have more expensive things than yours. This is because you need adequate coverage for your combined possessions, and your roommate's expensive items may drive up the cost. You will have to agree on an equitable sharing formula, which may not be easy to do and you could end up paying more than you would have paid if you had your own policy.
Is Your Roommate an Agreeable Person?
If you have known the person for some time, analyze how often you argue, settle arguments or agree on controversial or complicated situations. This is because multiple issues will require your agreement when you have a single renter's insurance policy. For example, you will have to agree on coverage limit, sharing of insurance costs, sharing of settlement checks, and dealing with a roommate's exit. All these will be difficult to do if your roommate isn't an agreeable person and you can hardly agree on a single thing.
Is Your Roommate a Careless Person?
Lastly, you also need to consider whether your roommate is a careless person or you can term them as a careful person. This is necessary because if your roommate's habits may affect your insurance rates if they are careless and tends to cause a lot of accidents.
It's clear that you should think hard and deep before sharing insurance with a roommate. If the ability to share the cost is your driving reason, then have a talk with an insurance agent via services like Sunset Insurance Agency to see how you can score low renter's insurance rates. You might be surprised to learn that it isn't as expensive as you think.
Share30 March 2017
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