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Compared to homeownership, renting your home can be relatively carefree—until your precious laptop is stolen or a broken pipe floods your apartment. Purchasing renters insurance can provide peace of mind by safeguarding your belongings and finances.
Renters insurance typically covers your personal property in case of theft or damage, protects against legal liability and helps pay the cost of living elsewhere due to a covered claim. Here's what you need to know about renters insurance.
How Does Renters Insurance Work?
Standard renters insurance works by providing four types of coverage: personal property, legal liability, medical expenses and additional living expenses. Here's a closer look at each.
1. Personal Property Coverage
Renters insurance pays to repair or replace your belongings if they're stolen, damaged or destroyed due to a covered risk. Generally, personal property coverage protects against damage or loss due to:
Fire or smoke
Lightning
Explosions
Certain types of water damage
Windstorms
Theft
Vandalism
To decide how much personal property insurance you need, conduct a home inventory of your belongings and estimate how much replacing everything would cost.
Then choose between replacement cost coverage and actual cash value coverage.
| Replacement Cost Coverage | Actual Cash Value (ACV) Coverage |
|---|---|
| Pays to replace possessions with comparable new items | Pays you the current value of your possessions |
| Premiums tend to be more expensive | Premiums tend to be more affordable |
| Payout amounts tend to be higher and offer more protection in the event of theft or damage | Payouts may be lower and may not cover your financial losses in the event of theft or damage |
| May be an appealing choice if you're averse to risk | May be an appealing choice if you want to keep monthly premiums low |
Renters insurance policies may exclude or limit coverage for certain types of possessions, including:
Furs
Jewelry
Cash
Firearms
Musical instruments
Electronics
Sports equipment
Collectibles
You can generally get full coverage for these belongings by adding a rider or floater to your policy.
Yes, renters insurance covers damage or loss of your property due to theft or vandalism. Most policies include off-premises coverage, protecting your belongings even outside your rental. For instance, possessions stolen from your car are generally covered by renters insurance. However, off-premises coverage is typically limited to a percentage of your personal property coverage or a flat dollar amount.
Yes, renters insurance usually protects personal belongings against covered perils off-premises, including belongings in storage units. Your landlord may provide some coverage for on-site storage units. Off-site storage facilities may include limited insurance coverage in the rental fee or offer insurance at extra cost.
Yes, damage or loss due to fire is covered by renters insurance. For example, if your furniture is destroyed or suffers smoke damage in a fire, renters insurance pays to repair or replace it.
It depends; whether renters insurance covers mold depends on what caused the mold. Mold damage due to a covered event, such as a burst water pipe, is generally covered. Mold due to neglect, such as leaky window frames, usually isn't covered. Check with your insurer for details.
2. Personal Liability
The personal liability component of renters insurance safeguards against legal liability if a visitor to your rental is injured accidentally. For example, if a party guest falls down the stairs and sues you for injuries, renters insurance helps pay your legal costs. Personal liability insurance also covers damage your family members cause to another person's property, such as your child breaking a neighbor's window.
Learn more >> What Is Liability Insurance?
3. Medical Payments
As part of personal liability coverage, renters insurance covers medical payments for visitors accidentally injured in your rental home. Medical payments insurance doesn't cover injuries to you or your family; your health insurance covers those.
Does Renters Insurance Cover Dog Bites?
Yes, renters insurance usually covers your legal liability and the injured person's medical costs if your dog bites a visitor to your rental home. However, check the specifics of each insurer's dog bite coverage. Some renters insurance providers won't cover dogs with a history of biting or breeds considered dangerous.
4. Additional Living Expenses
When your rental unit is damaged by a covered risk and the insurer decides it's temporarily unlivable, additional living expenses (ALE) insurance covers additional costs of living elsewhere during repairs. In addition to temporary housing, ALE may cover extra costs of eating out, boarding pets or commuting to work.
ALE only reimburses expenses above your normal cost of living. For instance, if your rent is $1,000 per month but your temporary rental costs $1,200 per month, ALE reimburses you the additional $200. ALE coverage is often limited to a certain time frame or dollar amount.
Learn more >> Is Rental Insurance Required?
What Is Typically Not Covered by Renters Insurance?
Unlike homeowners insurance, renters insurance doesn't cover your home's physical structure; that's your landlord's responsibility. Other losses that renters insurance typically doesn't cover:
- Bedbugs and other infestations, such as termites, cockroaches or mice, generally aren't covered by renters insurance. Depending on the cause of the infestation, your landlord may be responsible for pest removal, or you may need to pay for it yourself.
- Moving costs usually aren't covered under renters insurance, even if you need to live elsewhere due to a covered loss.
- Car theft isn't covered by renters insurance. Although most renters insurance policies cover personal property stolen from your car, you'll need auto insurance to protect your vehicle itself.
- Floods are not covered by renters insurance. If you're in a flood-prone area, you can buy a flood insurance policy to protect yourself. Check with your renters insurance company or the National Flood Insurance Program regarding flood coverage.
- Earthquake coverage is not included in renters insurance policies. If you live in a high-risk area, consult your renters insurance company about purchasing earthquake insurance.
- Business equipment may not be covered by renters insurance, or coverage may be limited to a set amount, such as $1,500 or $2,500. You may need a home-based business owners policy if you have business equipment, inventory, furniture or supplies worth more than these limits, or if you meet customers in your home, drive for business or store sensitive customer data.
How to File a Renters Insurance Claim
To file a renters insurance claim, follow these steps.
- Review your policy details. Confirm your coverage, including any coverage limits and deductibles. If the damage is less than your deductible, it won't make sense to file a claim. Note if you're required to file your claim within a certain time, such as 48 or 72 hours.
- Report the damage or loss to your landlord. Do this whether you plan to file a claim or not. The landlord may need to file an insurance claim or make temporary repairs to prevent further damage.
- Contact the police. File a report if theft or vandalism was involved.
- Take photos or videos of the damage. Don't discard any damaged items.
- Contact your insurance company. You can generally file a claim online or by phone. Be prepared to provide your policy number, details about the loss, and documentation such as photos, police reports or your home inventory.
- Keep receipts. Track living expenses if you need to move out of your rental unit, or for any temporary repairs you make.
What Happens After You File a Renters Insurance Claim?
The insurance company will review your claim, which may include contacting you for more information or sending a claims adjuster to look at the damage. Keep records of your communications with the insurance company.
If your insurer determines your loss is covered, you'll typically receive a check for the cash value of your personal property, even if your policy covers the full replacement cost. Once you replace the items and provide receipts, you'll be reimbursed the difference between the item's current value and the replacement cost.
How long it takes to settle a renters insurance claim depends on factors including how quickly you file the claim, how complex it is and how much documentation you provide. Some states have laws regulating insurance payout timelines. For example, in California, insurance companies must approve or deny your claim within 40 days. Your claims adjuster should be able to tell you when to expect a decision.
The Bottom Line
Protecting yourself and your belongings with renters insurance is a small investment that can make a big difference if you ever have a claim. In many states, insurers check your credit-based insurance score when setting rates for renters insurance. Since these scores are based on the same data as your FICO® Score☉ , positive financial habits like paying bills on time and minimizing credit usage could improve your scores, which may help reduce your renters insurance costs.
You might also increase your credit score by adding qualifying rent payments to Experian Boost®ø. With this free Experian feature, timely rent payments could give your FICO® Score a quick boost.
