If your rented home or apartment is completely destroyed by fire or if thieves load a large truck with everything you own and drive away, can you afford to replace your personal belongings? Can you do it without adding to your credit card balance and without spending weeks shopping for sales?

According to the City of Seattle, residential burglaries jumped nearly 20 percent in 2003 and 40 percent since 1999. White Center is one of the hardest-hit areas. Considering today's rising crime rates and increasing lawsuits, you're at serious risk of losing everything you've worked hard to gain, unless you have renters insurance.

Your personal belongings are probably worth more than you think. They include your furniture, clothes, appliances, I-Pods, PDAs, home stereos, cameras, computers, recreational equipment, televisions and other valuables. It's also important to know that if you rent, your landlord's insurance won't cover your personal property against destruction or loss.

Renters Insurance protects your personal property against losses resulting from fire or smoke, theft, explosion, vandalism, windstorm, lightning and water damage caused by broken plumbing. It also provides you with liability coverage, which offsets your responsibility to others injured at your home or elsewhere, including legal defense costs if you are summoned to court.

Best of all, renters insurance is affordable. For $15 to $25 per month, most insurers in the Northwest offer policies with property limits of $20,000 to $25,000, including $100,000 per incident for personal liability protection. Higher limits are available for those who need more coverage.

You can purchase coverage for either the actual cash value - sometimes called depreciated value - or the replacement value of your belongings. Actual cash value coverage takes into account the age and condition of your items at the time of damage or loss. Replacement value coverage pays today's cost to purchase a similar new item.

With renters insurance, you'll have help to get back on your feet if something unforeseen happens. For a small amount of effort and a modest investment, you can purchase the peace of mind that only a good insurance policy can provide.

For more information on renters insurance, call the Northwest Insurance Council to request a free Renters Guide or visit http://www.nwinsurance.org.

Karl J. Newman is president of the Northwest Insurance Council, based in Seattle, a public education trade association funded by member insurance companies doing business in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.