Tenant insurance: 3 things you need to know about filing a claim—and getting paid fast

two roommates going over the photos of their belongings on a cell phone

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Purchasing tenant insurance is kind of like purchasing an extra turkey for your holiday dinner. We’re glad we have it on hand in case something goes wrong with the first one, but we hope we never have to use it. Tenant insurance is often purchased before you move in to a new place, with the intention that if anything goes wrong—say your toilet floods or a neighbour trips over your stylish shag carpet and hurts themselves—your insurance policy will cover the cost of the damage. Many policyholders will never have to submit a claim. They can simply rest easy knowing they’re covered in the event of any what-ifs that may arise in the future. Should something go wrong, and you do find yourself in the position to file a claim, we’ve prepared a quick guide, providing you with insider knowledge on how to best prepare to submit a tenant insurance claim.

Read your tenant insurance policy

Although many insurance policies tend to be long and filled with hard-to-understand legalese, it’s important to know exactly what you’re covered for and what you’re not. Without a clear understanding of what your policy will allow you to make a claim for, you may find yourself in a situation where your apartment is badly damaged and a hefty bill is on its way directly to you. One way to make the claim process easier is to read the policy summary for a general understanding of what your policy entitles you to. After that, take a few minutes to go through the actual policy document online or as a PDF, if your insurance provider offers this, using the search tool to locate the information you’re going to need, for example:

How much liability coverage is offered?
Is damage by other people/pets covered by my policy?
What is the contents coverage limit?
How much money is provided to me in the event I need to sleep somewhere else as a result of damage?

Take inventory

Picture this: You’ve just moved into a new place, and your group chat is blowing up with messages asking you to send pictures. Instead of deleting these pictures when your phone’s storage gets too full, hold on to them. Taking snapshots of the items and layout of your rented space makes it easier for claims adjusters to understand exactly what has been damaged when you file a claim. Through these images, claims adjusters can see where items were laid out in your apartment, how they could have been damaged, and the quality and condition of the item that you’re looking to replace. On that note, it’s also a good idea to keep receipts for your large-ticket items. That way, when you’re getting ready to file a claim, you have evidence that shows exactly how much you paid for said items, along with their purchase dates. The key to a speedy claim is making the job of the insurance adjuster as simple as possible. If your belongings are well documented, determining the amount of your payout will be quick and easy, allowing you to get your money sooner!

Don’t skimp on the details

Be specific. Annoyingly specific. Say your leisurely bath runs a little too long, and you accidentally cause water damage to your apartment’s bathroom and kitchen. Don’t panic! That’s why you purchased tenant insurance in the first place. To start, do whatever you can to prevent even more damage. This could include cleaning up the water, removing your items from the path of flood, contacting your landlord, etc. After that, take account of exactly what has happened, assess the damages, and get ready to submit your claim. It’s important you provide your claims adjuster with every detail possible when describing the situation, that way they can get a better idea of exactly what you need to replace or repair, and they can move your claim along quickly. As much as you may think you’re going into too much detail, claims adjusters want to get the total picture together before they can start to process your claim. It’s here that you can submit the images of your apartment, pre- and post-damage, as well as the receipts of items that need to be replaced or repaired. The more detail you provide, the less back and forth you need to go through with the adjuster, creating a faster claims process. While we hope you won’t need to file a tenant insurance claim anytime soon, it’s important to be prepared should that situation ever arise. Duuo provides affordable, on-demand insurance for Canadian renters, and their claims process could not be easier. Check out the Duuo website to get a quote in less time than it takes to say tenant liability insurance.

Comments Cancel reply

Maria says:

October 25, 2021 at 12:00 pm

Hi,I am having difficulties,having the new owners correct,the issues 8n 5here appartment building of 4 tenants
I would like to know if 8 can stop payments to landlord until my lease is up,due to I received health issues ,and horrible conditions for heating ,water came in through windows,no fire escape,front door is so difficult to open and close,no ventilator 8n bathroom,with a crack skyline

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1. Courtney Reilly-Larke says:
  
  October 26, 2021 at 12:14 pm
  
  Due to the large volume of comments we receive, we regret that we are unable to respond directly to each one. We invite you to email your question to [email protected], where it will be considered for a future response by one of our expert columnists. For personal advice, we suggest consulting with a qualified advisor.
  
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Joseph micheala says:

April 12, 2022 at 6:42 am

My slumlord has harassed me for 3 years.the latest incident was being forced to survive without heat in edmonton canada.from sept to end january.i was forced to remain on my storage unit for most of the time frame which lead those ere mental anguish..pain and suffering.amd costs to me since I had to rent heaters to keep there lines from freezing.i had to call the health board to get any action taken and that tin a month in itsf as they continually destroyed my apartment.i want justice andcomoensation but being disabled I cant afford a lawyer.and I served a rent abatement letter and got evictedfif my efforts.noe all my guitars are ruined doe to no heat and excess moisti
Sure.now this slumlord company is boardwalk and they have big lawyers .and now being stuck with a 400$ power bill due to their relentless attacks against me my personal property and life and linv ong with 800 rental cost for heaters.on there bogus report to court they accuse me of being a thief on paper.there opinion is because iown 6 bikes.there all registered and police inspected and clear.byr being harassed with over 100 entries.that average of 3 times a month.no enjoyment whatsoever and I’ve watches them run over mymoroecycle the winter before in purpose.i thi k tenants insurance should cover legal cost to sue these aholes to a cross.as no one should ever have to pur up with this shit

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