renters insurance

[colt45]

I plan to get renters insurance to cover my gear (e.g. in case it's stolen from my car); has anyone had good/bad experiences with specific companies? I heard that some of them put limits on coverage of sporting goods.

 

And what would be REALLY nice (but perhaps unrealistic) is a policy that would also cover camping gear that's left in a campsite for the day, or a pack stashed at the base of a route...

[robert]

We had Safeco when we were renting. We had stuff stolen from our car and they were very helpful in the process. It wasn't climbing gear though. You might look into listing it as scheduled property if you expect to have enough that you would be over the limit.

[Couloir]

I have USAA insurance for everything. They are the absolute best IMO. For my homeowners policy (I've had renters and it was the same), all that you mentioned, would likely be covered. Even though I have access to this, I have shopped around and every company I talked to when told I was with USAA said they couldn't touch their rates. AND, we get a tasty little dividend every Christmas reflecting the difference between the company's revenues and the claims paid out.

 

The only thing is to get it you have to be either military, former military, or a dependent. Similar to the loose rules of joining a credit union. But the rules nonetheless.

[marylou]

Ditto on USAA. The eligibility extends pretty far though, all the way to former dependent of a former dependent of someone who was in the military.

[cluck]

I had a State Farm renters insurance policy a while back. I had a certain "coverage limit" that covered theft of any of my belongings (climbing or otherwise). However, I didn't get into the details about which kinds of theft would be covered (stolen from apartment vs stolen from car vs stolen from campsite, etc).

 

If you're planning on filing claims often, be sure to set a low deductible. Insurance isn't too helpful if you lose $600 in gear but have a $500 deductible.

[Geek_the_Greek]

I looked into State Farm a while ago (after my car break-in up in Squampton, for those who may recall...). Their policy sounded good (~$15 a month, I think, something like $20K max, low deductible), but they could only offer it to those with 0 or 1 housemate. Family members were ok, but I was told there had been too many issues of housemates being suspects in thefts. Since I live with friends in a house, it wasn't going to work for me. A friend has insurance through Geico, and said they don't have that stipulation, so that's somewhere else to look.