I wondered the same thing (while still paying for it), and believe me when I say it paid off, in spades, when
my rental house blew up. :shocked:
Natural gas explosion, February 26th, 2007, at ~2:30 in the morning. I was asleep in the front bedroom when it happened, with my cat asleep on top of the covers, down by my feet. Neither one of us got a scratch on us, btw.
I had, and still have, Farmers for my renter's insurance. $250 deductible, with replacement coverage on everything, policy max of $25K + $2K for computer. They were out the next day to take care of me, and I had a check in hand in ~10 days (for the initial amount).
I figure I paid ~$210/year for 7 years while I lived there, or ~$1470. They paid out over $20K for replacing my stuff. I'd say it was worth it, and then some!
Replacement coverage insurance works by giving you an initial pay-out, for the depreciated value of your lost items. Then, as you replace them, you send in your receipts (make copies!), and they send you the difference between the depreciated value, and what you paid, or the max value they estimated for the item, whichever amount is lower. So if you lost, say, a tv set.....they value it's depreciated value by how old it is, and maybe give you 1/2 the value of a new one. Once you replace it, and send in the receipt with a claim form (I sent in TONS of receipts, in 3 or 4 batches), they make up the difference, as long as it's not over their replacement estimate. And believe me, Farmers was VERY generous with their replacement estimates!! You're not constrained to buy the exact same item again, so it's entirely possible that a tv set that you paid $1000 for a couple years ago, would only cost you $750 now to purchase, but they estimate it'll cost you $1200 to replace. So go buy the $1200 tv set, and send in the receipt!!
So here's my suggestions:
1. get renter's insurance (shop around, it's worth it!)
2. get replacement coverage. it's only a few extra bucks a year, and entirely worth the extra cost
3. take inventory of all electronics you have, with model and serial numbers. if you have collectibles or knick-knacks,
take pictures of everything, and then store all that electronic information online, where you'll be able to retrieve it afterwards. Nothing sucks worse than walking through your exploded house and trying to remember what the heck you had!! I imagine a burnt down house would be even worse!! Keep your inventory up to date, at least monthly.
4. God forbid, if you ever have to make a major claim, don't feel bad about overestimating what you had, within reason. Seriously. I ripped myself off badly (I realized afterward) by not claiming everything I had lost, especially in my kitchen and bath areas. Unless you know 100% what you had, pad your estimates by 10-20%, and it's highly likely you'll be a lot closer to reality than you'd otherwise be.