Your renters insurance may very well cover it as it's not uncommon. However, I would never recommend making a claim for such a thing. I always recommend only using it for 2 situations:
1) Where there was an act of nature or "act of God" it's often called where there was widespread problems caused. They won't raise your individual rates in this case. For example, we jsut went through a hail storm and are getting our roof replaced without being singled out for higher rates, however our area may get a rate hike for all the claims.
2) Major damage or loss you can't afford to otherwise pay for. This is the main reason for having insurance in my opinion. If somethign happens you can't afford to fix or replace, use insurance.
Otherwise your rates WILL either be raised or cause you to not qualify for a rate drop coming up. Over all the insurance companies make sure they get out of you more than you get out of them and you pay for these claims over time by a lot more than the claim was for. It WILL follow you for many years under your home insurance profile. Too many claims and you may not be able to find good coverage. Like it or hate it, that's the way it is.
