Apartment Renters Insurance: Coverages, Costs, and How to Get It

Money experts often recommend buying a renters insurance policy if you live in a rental unit. Many landlords even require it — and for good reason. Renters insurance protects both of you when things go awry, like if a fire burns down your place or your dog chews through a wall.^[1]

A renters policy is often one of the best insurance hacks around. It’s uber-affordable, easy to buy, and provides protection against many risks. We’ll go over how it works and the best way to buy a renters insurance policy at an affordable price.

What is apartment renters insurance?

Apartment renters insurance is a policy designed to protect people who live in rental residences. In practice, there’s no difference between insurance policies if you live in different types of rental housing like a loft, apartment, or townhome.

Renters insurance isn’t that different from homeowners insurance or even landlord coverage, for that matter. The only difference is that renters insurance doesn’t cover the actual structure of your rental home. That’s on the person who actually owns the property.^[2]

Similarly, landlord insurance won’t cover your belongings if they sustain damage or burn in a fire.

What apartment renters insurance covers

Renters insurance offers three main types of coverage in a convenient bundle:

• Your personal possessions and belongings, if a covered event damages or destroys them, or if someone steals them

• Living expenses, if you need to relocate temporarily 

• Liability, if you injure someone else or damage their property

Each coverage has additional nuances you should be aware of. Let’s explore those next.

Personal property coverage

The main benefit of renters insurance coverage is protection for personal possessions, such as electronics, furniture, family heirlooms, dishes, and more. Your policy terms will spell out exactly what’s covered and your coverage limits. 

Common scenarios that your policy will cover include:^[3]

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Windstorms

• Water damage (from within or above your rental unit)

You’ll also get a choice between actual cash value coverage, which pays out for each item’s current worth, or replacement cost coverage, which offers a higher payout so you can buy brand-new replacements. If you want to save money, the actual cash value option is cheaper. If you want better coverage, replacement cost coverage is the better option.

Liability coverage

Your renters insurance policy comes with personal liability coverage. It can help pay for damages if you injure someone or damage someone else’s property. It can also kick in to pay your legal costs if someone sues you.

Your renters insurance policy can help pay to make things right in times like these:

• Your pets cause significant damage to the apartment.

• Someone slips in your kitchen after your rug slides out from under them.

• Your neighbor sues you over a property dispute.

The liability insurance that comes with your policy applies whether you’re at home or not. So if any of these things happen when you’re away from home, you’re still often covered.

Loss of use coverage

If a covered event leaves your apartment unlivable, and you need to move out while your landlord makes repairs, your policy will kick in. This way, you won’t need to pay for those extra living costs yourself.

Additional living expenses (ALE), also known as loss of use coverage, typically reimburses you for covered expenses such as:

• Meals

• Parking fees

• Pet boarding

• Storage unit rent

• Laundromat services

• Hotel lodging or short-term rentals

Each insurance company offers a different level of daily and total coverage limits for these kinds of expenses. Pay attention to these limits — especially if you live in an area with a high cost of living.

Medical payments coverage

Your renters insurance includes coverage for medical bills if you accidentally injure someone else. Insurers include this coverage as part of your renters liability insurance. The person whom you injure must submit their medical bills to your insurance company for payment. Your policy will cover their costs up to your medical payments liability limit.

Examples of coverage include:

• Your dog bites someone.

• Your mother-in-law slips and falls in your shower while visiting overnight.

• Your child’s friend injures themself while attempting to sled down your staircase on a mattress.

Extra coverages

Basic renters coverages go a long way to protecting your wallet, but not everyone faces standard risks. In some cases, it’s a good idea to consider buying additional coverage in the form of riders or endorsements that tack onto your current policy.^[5]

Common options that you might see with your insurance company include things like:

• Higher coverage limits for specific items like jewelry, electronics, or collectibles

• Flood and/or earthquake coverage, which insurers don’t typically include with renters insurance

• Umbrella coverage, which adds to your liability limits in case someone sues you

What apartment renters insurance doesn’t cover

It’s important to check the exclusions section of your policy agreement carefully. As good as renters insurance is, it doesn’t cover every potential property insurance claim.

Look to the exclusions section of your agreement for what your policy won’t cover, which typically includes things like:

• Floods

• Earthquakes

• Vehicle damage

• Vet bills for your pets

Insurance agents are usually very good about clarifying what is and isn’t covered, especially if you’re still in the process of getting a renters insurance quote. Don’t wait until you file a claim to find out you actually don’t have the coverage you need. 

Who needs apartment renters insurance?

States don’t require you to carry renters insurance coverage like they do for auto insurance if you have a car. But it’s fairly common for landlords to require you to carry a policy under the terms of your lease agreement. And you may even need to list them as an “interested party” with your insurance company so they can keep tabs on your coverage.

Even if your landlord doesn’t require you to carry insurance coverage, it’s still a good idea for all renters to consider purchasing it. Your landlord’s insurance won’t protect your belongings. And even if you don’t have much stuff, renters insurance protects you in other ways for a very affordable cost.

Top companies for apartment renters insurance

You can find apartment renters insurance through most major insurance companies. Look for insurers that offer homeowners insurance coverage. Renters insurance is essentially the same thing, minus coverage for your rental home structure.

Here are some top renters insurance companies, who they may be best for, and their average monthly cost for $30,000 in property coverage and $100,000 in liability coverage.

Insurance Company	Best For	Average Monthly Cost
Erie	Low renters insurance rates	$15
State Farm	Financial stability	$19
USAA	Military and veterans	$18

How much does apartment renters insurance cost?

One of the most remarkable things about renters insurance is how cheap it is. Nationwide, for a policy with $30,000 in personal property coverage and $100,000 in personal liability coverage, the average monthly premium is approximately $20. 

If you bump those limits up to $100,000 and $750,000, respectively, the average cost increases to $43 per month.

Aside from the coverage limits, your specific cost could vary according to other factors like the condition of apartments in your area and your credit.

How to save on apartment renters insurance

Renters insurance is already very affordable compared to other insurance products. But you may be able to save even more money by using these tactics:

Bundle your renters and auto insurance

You can buy a renters insurance policy from just about any major insurer that also sells homeowners insurance policies. If you buy other policies through that insurer, many will even offer a discount for bundling insurance together, such as State Farm, GEICO,  and Erie.

Find discounts on renters insurance

In addition to bundling discounts, insurance companies often offer other types of discounts, such as:

• Age 55 and older

• Renewing your policy with the same insurer when your policy period is up

• Apartment safety features like smoke detectors, deadbolt locks, and monitoring services

Discounts can help, but it’s still best to focus on total price first. A low-cost policy with no discounts may still be cheaper than an expensive policy with a few small discounts.

Compare renters insurance quotes

Lastly, get multiple renters insurance quotes the next time you’re looking to buy a policy. Each insurer offers different pricing on its policies, and getting at least three quotes can help you weed out the more expensive policies so you can focus on the affordable ones.

Insurance-comparison platforms like Insurify can help you compare renters insurance quotes quickly and easily.

How much apartment renters insurance should you get?

Rather than picking a random number, experts recommend making a home inventory checklist of all your belongings and their value. You can use tools like mobile apps or spreadsheets to do this.

It’ll help you estimate how much personal property coverage you actually need. And you’ll be able to use it as evidence in case you ever need to file a claim for a covered loss. 

Apartment renters insurance FAQs