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Renters insurance
Your landlord's insurance covers the building. It does not cover your couch, your laptop, or the neighbor's ceiling when your washing machine floods it. This does.
Most of our renters members pay between $12 and $20 a month. It is usually the least expensive policy we write, and the one people most often wish they had bought sooner.
What renters insurance covers
Your belongings
Furniture, clothes, electronics, kitchen things, a bike. Covered at home, in your car, in a storage unit and when you travel. Fire, smoke, theft, vandalism and water from a burst pipe are all covered.
Loss of use
If a fire or a burst pipe makes your apartment unlivable, we pay for a hotel or a short-term rental, and the extra cost of eating out, until you can move back or find a new place.
Personal liability
If you are responsible for someone being hurt, or for damage to someone else's property, including the building. A kitchen fire that spreads to the unit next door is the common case.
Medical payments to others
Small medical bills for a guest who is hurt in your home, paid without anyone having to prove fault.
Replacement cost, not what it would sell for
Our renters policy pays replacement cost on your belongings: the price of a new television, not what a four-year-old one would fetch online. It costs a little more than the actual cash value version some carriers sell, and it is the only version we write.
Choosing your limits
| Part | Range | Most common |
|---|---|---|
| Belongings | $15,000 to $100,000 | $30,000 |
| Liability | $100,000 to $500,000 | $300,000 |
| Loss of use | 30 percent of your belongings limit | Set automatically |
| Deductible | $250, $500, $1,000 | $500 |
To pick a belongings limit, walk through one room and add up what it would cost to replace everything in it. Then multiply by the number of rooms. Most people are surprised how quickly it passes $20,000.
Questions renters ask us
Does my roommate's policy cover me?
No. Each person on a lease needs their own policy, unless you are married or registered partners, in which case one policy covers you both.
My landlord asked for proof. What do I send?
We can list your landlord as an interested party, so they hear from us if the policy lapses. Your declarations page is the usual proof. See proof of insurance.
Does it cover my things in a dorm?
A student under 24 living in a dorm is usually covered by a parent's home or renters policy, up to 10 percent of its belongings limit. If that is not enough, a policy of their own costs very little.
What about expensive things?
Jewelry, watches, cameras and instruments have lower limits for theft in the standard policy. List them on a schedule at their appraised value and they are covered for their full value with no deductible.
What renters insurance does not cover
- The building itself, the landlord's appliances, and the walls you would like to repaint. That is the landlord's policy.
- Earthquake damage to your belongings, unless you buy a separate earthquake contents policy. In California we offer one with every renters policy.
- Flood, including water that comes in from outside after heavy rain.
- Pests, mold and wear and tear.
- Your car. That is your auto policy, although things stolen from inside the car are covered here.
- Business equipment and inventory beyond a small limit.
Coverage is subject to the terms and limits of the policy you buy.
See your price
Choose Renters on the home page quote box and enter your ZIP code. If you have a car too, choose Bundle.