As the number of Americans renting homes increases with the current housing foreclosure crisis, a new survey released by Allstate finds most renters are inadequately prepared to protect their belongings.

While homeowners coverage is required as a part of most mortgages, renters face no such insurance requirement.

As a result, just 40 percent of survey respondents said they have renters insurance, meaning that more than 50 million of the approximately 87 million Americans living in rental housing do not have insurance to cover their belongings in case of a loss.

The share of rental households jumped by about 1 million in 2007, as this group is likely to expand further if foreclosure trends continue, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Now more than ever, it is critical for renters to be prepared to protect their possessions in case of loss.

Allstate's survey also found that more than two-thirds of renters say they have not, in the past year or two, prepared a home-inventory checklist or tried to estimate the cost of replacing everything in their home.

Fewer than one in five renters say they have taken photographs or videotaped their possessions during the past two years to help document what they own.

Allstate claims experience suggests that renters are more likely to be victims of burglary than homeowners.

The survey found that most renters underestimate the threat theft poses to their belongings. Nearly half (49 percent) of renters surveyed estimated the number of annual burglaries and other property crimes in the United States at less than 100,000, while the actual number of burglaries alone is 20 times that.

According to the FBI's most recent Uniform Crime Report, there were more than 2 million burglaries in the United States in 2006.

Only one in 20 renters guessed the number was in that range.

The survey found that the biggest reasons renters don't purchase renters insurance are:

* They haven't taken the time to look into it (43 percent), and

* They believe the coverage is too expensive (33 percent).

Various other reasons, such as not owning enough valuables to justify having the insurance and believing landlords are responsible for insuring renters' personal property, were given by 23 percent and 10 percent of respondents respectively.

Misperceptions about the price of renters insurance were particularly telling.

Three out of 10 respondents think renters insurance costs at least three times as much as its actual price tag, an average of $15 per month.

Another 20 percent have no idea how much it costs.

When polled, six out of 10 renters said they think renters insurance is worthwhile, even at an average of $20 per month.

Additional

Survey Stats

* A majority of renters (54 percent) said that if they could protect only one of several types of possessions from burglary or fire, they would choose such personal items as photographs or letters.

Sixty-eight percent of women said they would save photos and letters, compared to 40 percent of men;

* Three in 10 respondents would save a personal computer, while almost one in 10 would save other personal electronic devices, such as an MP3 player or digital camera; and

* A mere 15 percent of respondents have a security or alarm system in their home, and only 67 percent lock their windows when they leave.

Fifty-four percent of those surveyed own a fire extinguisher.

The national survey was conducted online from May to June 2008 with a sample of 1,000 renters nationwide.

Additional surveys were conducted online during this period with 500 renters from each of the following 13 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

In the state of New York, 200 renters were surveyed in each of four upstate areas: Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.