Renters insurance on base vs. off base

The assumption that costs people money

Living on an installation feels like the government has it covered. It does not. Military housing, privatized or not, insures the building, not your furniture, laptop, uniforms, tools or bicycles.

There is a government claims process for personal property lost or damaged in certain circumstances connected to service, but it is limited, it has caps, and it is not a substitute for insurance. Fire, theft, burst pipes and the damage your dog does to someone else's property are not what it exists for.

On base, including privatized housing

• Read the lease. Most privatized housing companies require renters insurance, and some include a basic policy in the rent. The included version is usually thin, with a low contents limit and modest liability.
• Check what the included policy actually pays. If it caps contents at a figure that would not refurnish a bedroom, treat it as a starting layer and buy your own.
• Liability still matters on base. A dog bite, a guest's injury, or water from your unit reaching a neighbour's are all yours.

Off base

• The landlord's policy covers the landlord. Their building, not your belongings and not your liability.
• Many leases require it, and many landlords ask to be named as an interested party so they are told if the policy lapses.
• Loss of use is the underrated part. If the place becomes uninhabitable, the policy pays for somewhere to stay while you sort it out.

What a policy actually does

• Contents, wherever they are. A renters policy typically follows your belongings off the property, which matters for a laptop stolen from a car or a bag taken in transit.
• Liability, usually $100,000 or more, for injury or damage you cause.
• Loss of use, for temporary accommodation after a covered loss.
• Medical payments for minor injuries to guests, without anybody suing.

Ask for replacement cost rather than actual cash value. Actual cash value pays what your six-year-old sofa is worth today, which is not what a sofa costs.

The gaps worth knowing

• Flood is excluded, in every standard policy, everywhere. Cover for that is separate.
• Earthquake is usually excluded too, which matters at some duty stations.
• High-value items are capped. Jewellery, cameras, firearms and instruments have sub-limits, often around $1,500 for a whole category. Schedule anything above that individually.
• A PCS move is not a renters claim. Damage by the movers runs through the government shipping claims process. A renters policy may fill some gaps, but it is not the first port of call.
• Roommates are not covered by your policy, unless the policy says so.

What it costs and how to buy it

Renters insurance is one of the cheapest products in the market, often a modest monthly sum for real contents and liability limits. Two practical points:

• Bundle it. The discount on the auto policy frequently exceeds the cost of the renters policy itself, which makes the cover effectively free. The discount page covers who qualifies.
• Take a home inventory now, before you need one. Photographs of each room and receipts for the expensive items settle claims faster than memory does.

Set the contents limit by adding up what it would cost to replace everything, not by guessing a round number. Most people undershoot by a wide margin.

Common questions