My version of this was renter's insurance. I knew about home owners insurance, but somehow I assumed that in the case of an apartment the owner would already have insurance. When my oven caught fire I learned that I'd be responsible for it. I don't recall too much of the initial rental process as that was years ago, so I don't know if it were somewhere in the paperwork but I never recalled even being asked about it.
Renters insurance isn't that expensive and worth having. If you rent and the place burns down, none of your stuff is covered by the landlord's insurance. Pretty sure you also can get personal liability coverage in case you get sued.
Oooh, this one's even trickier these days because some/rental companies will provide their own rental insurance as part of the lease, and give you no option but to pay for it, citing some obscure law or whatever. The trick though, is that rental insurance doesn't cover you, the rentee, but you don't know that unless you wade through the legalese yourself. Then they try to convince you that you don't need any other renters insurance, because you're already covered, which is of course a bold faced lie.