Renters insurance basics

Your landlord’s insurance covers your landlord. It pays to rebuild the walls after a fire. It doesn’t replace your couch, your laptop, or your clothes, and it doesn’t defend you if a guest is hurt in your apartment and blames you. Renters insurance does those three things, and it’s usually one of the least expensive policies you can buy.

What does renters insurance cover?

A renters policy, sometimes called an HO-4, is built around three coverages.

• Personal property: your belongings, against covered causes like fire, theft, and many kinds of water damage. That usually includes your things when they’re away from home, like a laptop stolen from your car, though some items carry lower limits.
• Personal liability: if someone is hurt in your home, or you accidentally damage someone else’s property, including your landlord’s, this pays for your defense and for damages up to the limit. Dog bites are a common liability claim for renters with pets.
• Additional living expenses: if a covered loss makes your home unlivable, this helps pay for temporary housing, and often for extra food and other costs above your normal budget, while repairs happen.

What it doesn’t cover: the building itself, which is your landlord’s responsibility. Flood is excluded from standard renters policies, and earthquake usually is too.

How much renters insurance do I need?

Work out the personal property limit from a quick home inventory. Walk each room, list what you’d have to replace, and estimate the cost to buy it new. Most people underestimate this badly once they add up clothes, kitchen gear, and electronics. A phone video of every room and closet is a good backup to the list.

For liability, $100,000 is a common starting limit, and it’s a frequent lease requirement. $300,000 or $500,000 costs little more on many policies. If you have savings or other assets a lawsuit could reach, get a quote on the higher limit, or an umbrella policy on top, before you settle for the minimum.

What does $100,000 in renters liability cover?

It’s the most the policy will pay, per occurrence, for claims that you caused injury to someone or damage to someone else’s property, plus legal defense in many policies. A kitchen fire that spreads to the unit next door, or a guest who falls on your balcony, would fall under it. It does not cover your own injuries or your own belongings; those are other parts of the policy, or other policies.

How much does renters insurance cost?

Renters insurance is usually far cheaper than homeowners insurance, because it doesn’t insure the building. What you’ll pay depends on:

• Your personal property limit
• Your liability limit
• Your deductible
• Where you live, including local theft and weather risk
• Your claims history and, with many carriers, your credit-based insurance score
• Whether you bundle it with a car policy

Choosing replacement cost rather than actual cash value costs a bit more but pays to buy your things new rather than paying what they were worth used. For most people that’s the better buy.

Renters insurance fees explained: why is my landlord charging me for insurance?

Some leases add a monthly charge for a program the landlord runs, sometimes called a liability waiver, a damage protection fee, or a building loss protection fee. These programs typically protect the landlord’s property from damage you cause. They generally don’t cover your belongings, and they may not provide the personal liability protection a renters policy does.

Many landlords waive the fee if you show proof of your own renters policy with the required liability limit. If your lease has one of these charges, read what it covers, then compare it to the cost of your own policy.

Renters insurance vs. homeowners insurance

Homeowners insurance covers the building and your belongings. Renters insurance covers only your belongings, your liability, and your living expenses after a loss. That’s why renters insurance costs a fraction of what homeowners insurance does. If you own a condo, you’ll want an HO-6 instead; see our condo insurance page.

For landlords: requiring renters insurance

If you rent out a home, requiring tenants to carry renters insurance with a liability limit, and asking for proof at move-in and renewal, keeps a tenant’s accident from landing entirely on your own policy. See our long-term rental insurance page for the landlord side.

Renters insurance FAQ

Does renters insurance cover my roommate?

Usually only if they’re named on the policy, and many carriers won’t add unrelated roommates. The simpler answer is often a separate policy for each roommate.

Does renters insurance cover my pet?

Renters liability often covers injuries your pet causes to other people, like a dog bite, though some carriers exclude certain breeds or animals with a bite history. It doesn’t cover your pet’s vet bills; that’s pet insurance.

Is renters insurance required?

No state requires it by law, but many landlords require it in the lease.

Why use Fudge for renters insurance?

Fudge Insurance is an independent agency, so we can compare renters policies across multiple carriers, and we can often bundle renters coverage with your auto policy.

Moving into a new place? Ask us for a quote before move-in day.

Request a quote today!

We would be happy to quote your renters insurance needs.