Renters Insurance in Texas (Dallas, Lewisville: apartment, renter, car insurance)

[cckhek]

I will be relocating to an apartment in Dallas and they are requiring rental insurance. I have never bought this before, but looks like this time I don't have an option. Does anyone recommend a particular insurance company that is reasonable? This will be for a 2 BD/2BA apartment, so not even sure what a good price would be. Can anyone give me some advice?
Thanks.

[Mr.Bungle]

We're using AAA and it is not very expensive. I don't know the figure off hand.

[natnic]

I have mine through State Farm. For $30k in personal property it's like 14/month. That is for a 2br/2ba with garage in Lewisville.

[jaime_mac]

I don't have any right now, but in my previous apt it was required because of the washer/dryer we had. I went through Geico as I have my car insurance through them and they were pretty reasonable. I think it really depends on how much you have and what you think the value of it is.

[cckhek]

Thanks so much for the advice. I will check and compare the prices on the ones that were mentioned. Sounds like it is fairly cheap.

[LV702]

Progressive has it too. From what I read when I bought my policy it also covers you personally under certain circumstances even if you're away from home.

[MaryS80]

You can usually bundle it with your auto insurance carrier and get a good deal. Someplaces require it, most don't, but it should cost you more than $5-10/mo.

[yjc281]

Originally Posted by LV702

Progressive has it too. From what I read when I bought my policy it also covers you personally under certain circumstances even if you're away from home.

I had good experiences with Progressive auto but not so good experience with their Homeowners/Renter's insurance. Be aware that Progressive doesn't really have its own homeowner's insurance but is actually a reseller of Homesite insurance. You can do a google search on Homesite and its financial status... Also, Homesite raised my premium by 50% in 2009 by overestimating the rebuilding costs, while most other insurance companies gave much lower estimates. Needless to say I dumped Homesite along with Progressive. Progressive needs to be more careful about what they want to put under their brand name.
Also, some people dislike Progressive because of its progressive(liberal) political stance. I can bear with that but the Homesite deal is enough to make me switch.

[redman421]

We have our renter bundled with our auto through Amica. Bundling your insurance will always make it cheaper. Do not skimp on the property value amount. Assume that you will loose everything, then add up how much it will cost you to replace all of it, and then add 10% to that. It is always better to be over-insured than under-insured.

[yjc281]

Originally Posted by redman421

It is always better to be over-insured than under-insured.

I have to disagree on this one because it can be used as an excuse to charge an outrageous premium. Also, 50% increase in one year is ridiculous. It is especially suspicious when the insurer has a financial strength that's rated as D-. No, it is not always better to over-insure.

Amica is a premier, elite-class insurer and has relatively strong financials. You not only want to make sure you have sufficient insurance but also want to make sure your insurer is financially stable especially in a recession. I like Amica but I simply cannot afford the price. So I picked an insurer that has relatively okay financials and a reasonable price.

For price comparison you can go to the Texas Department of Insurance website at:
Online Services - Price Comparisons/Rate Guides from the Texas Department of Insurance (http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/webinfo/onlserv9.html - broken link)