Serenity Walters found out the hard way how tough life can be without renters insurance.

The first time she thought about the insurance was Nov. 21, 2002, as flames whipped from her Edgewood Homes apartment windows and smoke billowed out, ruining $5,000 in belongings inside.

“It never crossed my mind before,” she said. “You just don’t think about it.”

Experts say plenty of people like Walters don’t think about renters insurance. Surveys have shown that between 55 percent and 70 percent of all renters lack insurance for their personal belongings.

And with tornado season in progress and burglary cases increasing with warm weather, this may the perfect time to get insured.

“It’s amazing how many people don’t carry it,” said Bob Carlson, a State Farm Insurance agent. “One of the fallacies is that they don’t think that they have much. They don’t believe that there’s a lot of value in what they own. But if you’ll do a simple accounting … it’s going to add up. It’s going to be $15,000 or $20,000 without much problem.”

Carlson said a typical policy to cover $20,000 in belongings would run about $135 a year at most agencies, with discounts often given for having both car and renters insurance from the same agency. That could put the cost at well under $10 a month.

“That should be pretty simple,” he said. “That’s one trip to McDonald’s or a trip out for pizza.”

Serenity Walters and her son lost everything they owned in a fire last November and didn't have renters insurance. She has moved into a new apartment, which was furnished through donations from friends and family.

But for some, like Walters, it’s still too much. Even after the fire — and even though she can still see her old apartment from her new living-room window — she doesn’t have renters insurance. She said the money from her secretary job at Lawrence High School was better spent on her 11-year-old son, Cainen Spooner.

“My main priority is the rent and paying my bills,” she said. “If I have to choose between paying the light bill and getting renters insurance, I’ll pay the light bill.”

The tips

Carlson said the first step was adding up the value of your belongings.

Policies typically cover items in the house or in the car, though some policies don’t cover CDs stolen from a car. And they’re usually good for the replacement value of the items, not the depreciated value of the old items.

The policies usually don’t cover items such as especially valuable engagement rings, collections, guns or golf clubs. Separate riders can be purchased for those items.

He said students whose parents claimed them as dependents generally are covered under their parents’ homeowners policy and don’t need renters insurance.

He recommends photographing all items and storing copies of the photos in a safe, off-site location.

‘High’ probability

Chris Cardinal hears plenty of questions about renters insurance.

As director of the Off-Campus Living Resource Center at Kansas University, he’s a strong advocate of students getting policies.

“The chance of something happening at your home are incredibly high,” he said.

Older rental houses may be susceptible to fires or burst pipes, and many student houses are targets for burglars, Cardinal said.

Still, many students opt not to get insurance.

“We think we’re invincible twentysomethings whose house isn’t going to get burned down, car isn’t going to get broken into and bike definitely isn’t going to get stolen,” he said.

Count Ryan Davidson in that category. The 19-year-old has never had renters insurance and doesn’t plan to get it.

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“If something happens and my place burns down or if someone steals from me, I’ll just make do,” he said. “I just don’t want to worry about it.”

It took a tragedy to convince Judi Regnier on the topic of renters insurance.

In mid-April, a fire gutted the Eudora house she rented with her 17-year-old son, leaving them to lose all their personal belongings. She had canceled her $125-a-year policy two months before the fire to save money.

Regnier now rents in Lawrence — with insurance.

“Yes, I will always have it,” she said.

And her advice to those living on the edge?

“I would think twice about not having,” she said.