$83,000 in damages from a June 2011 apartment fire is now the subject of a Texas Supreme Court case.

Carmen White rented an apartment in San Antonio. When she did, she signed the standard Texas Apartment Association lease used by landlords statewide on millions of apartments. In that lease Provision 12 of the 11-page agreement requires the renter to pay for damage not caused by the landlord’s negligence.

But she didn’t have insurance to cover that liability. So when her dryer caught fire, and she couldn’t put out the fire with her fire extinguisher, the property owner’s insurance company sued her to recover the damages.

So now she’s spent the last four years fighting a set of court cases that could have been easily avoided.

iMGA Renters policies include your choice of $100,000 – $300,000 liability coverage. As importantly, the policy also provides legal defense cost coverage. All that is in addition to whatever contents coverage limit she could have selected, up to $50,000.

So if Ms. White had paid the less than $15 per month that an average iMGA Renters policy costs, that policy could have covered the full $83,000 in liability to the landlord, all related legal defense costs, and the cost of damages to her own property.

Don’t let your clients face this completely avoidable situation. More and more landlords are requiring Renters insurance from their tenants. Even when they don’t, though, we should make sure this doesn’t happen.

Quote your clients an iMGA Renters policy today. It’s peace of mind worth many times the cost.

If you’re a Texas independent insurance agent who doesn’t already represent iMGA and you’d like to be able to provide this affordable protection to your clients, start the process here.