Renters Insurance—What Does it Cover?
Auto & Home
There are tons of hidden benefits.
Many tenants mistakenly believe their belongings are covered by their landlord’s insurance. They’re not.
Renters insurance is a relatively inexpensive way to protect your belongings and protect yourself from liability, but in addition to these standard protections, this affordable coverage generally provides other valuable perks:
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- Your belongings are covered everywhere. As long as you select off-premises coverage, whether you’re home, or out and about, if your belongings are damaged or stolen, renters insurance will cover you. If your laptop is stolen out of the trunk of your car, or someone cuts your lock and steals your bike, you’re covered. “Off-premises” coverage is usually limited to a portion of your total coverage for personal belongings, typically 10%. Just remember, this coverage is subject to various limits and deductibles, so a $250 stolen bike with a $500 deductible isn’t a claim worth filing, but a bike, a laptop, and a car full of luggage certainly could be!
*Insurance.com, August 2020
- Coverage for additional living expenses. Renters insurance includes coverage for “additional living expenses” if your place becomes uninhabitable and you need to find somewhere else to live temporarily. You’d be reimbursed for extra expenses such as the cost to stay in a hotel or rent another apartment.
- Liability protection. You’re covered for damages you, your child, or your pet may cause to others due to your actions or negligence—either at your home or elsewhere. Renters insurance covers attorney’s fees as well as any damages you’re found liable for.
- Medical expenses. If a visitor is injured at your rental property, renters insurance can cover related medical bills up to the policy’s limit. A typical policy includes $1,000 to $5,000 worth of medical coverage, but you can increase your medical expense benefits.
- Extras. You can add coverage for extra things and extra people. Some policies include identity theft coverage. Coverage for expensive items beyond your policy’s limits, like cameras and jewelry, can be added to your basic policy. You can also add other people. While a typical policy automatically covers any resident of your household related by blood, marriage, or adoption, it won’t cover your significant others or roommates. But they may be added as an “additional insured.”
Renters insurance is a bargain. Premiums vary from basic student coverage with low limits to coverage with higher limits and liability protection. The average national premium for a typical renters insurance policy is just $326 per year, or about $27 a month.1 This inexpensive coverage comes with lots of perks, and could save you thousands.
1Insurance.com 2020 rate analysis (assumes $40,000 in personal property and$100,000 in liability).
