If you are still in school and your parents own a home, check with their insurance broker to see if your apartment can be covered under their homeowner’s policy. It’s possible that one call to provide your apartment address will result in coverage at little or no additional cost.  Easy,

But if your parents don’t own a home or their policy won’t permit this, then you may need a separate policy called Renters insurance.  This type of insurance provides coverage for losses to your personal property(furniture, books, tv, stereo, laptop, ipad, phone, clothing, purses etc), along with some level of liability protection. Losses would include disasters like fire, theft, water damage etc. Most insurance companies have minimum policy amounts for personal property (e.g., $15,000, $30,000). Since you likely have relatively few possessions at school, the minimum policy will likely be enough coverage for you. To be sure, though, you should take an inventory of your personal property–things can really add up..  Estimate how much it would cost if you had to replace everything you owned in your apartment all at once form something like a fire.

DivaCFO tip: Keep the insurance company’s contact info, policy number and photos of your all your personal property and receipts on our free app, DivaDocs, so you can prove the loss if a claim had to be made.

As for liability protection, the standard coverage amount is usually around $100,000. The types of things covered may vary but accidents like friends slipping on the beer spilled on the party floor may qualify.  Again, pick up the phone and ask your insurance agent.  And shop around –you’ll be surprised at how inexpensive renters insurance can be.