Best and Worst Sites to Compare Renters Insurance
We used a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment in Queens, NYC, for test data. We evaluated each site with a proprietary process that weighed credibility, speed, helpfulness, and results. We’ve ranked renters insurance comparison sites from best to worst and placed a summary table at the end.
PolicyGenius
PolicyGenius wants its site visitors to have real-time quotes from multiple insurers. The company doesn’t stop at renters insurance and sells auto, disability, health, homeowners, life, pet, and more. PolicyGenius lets you buy online or through its app on both Apple and Android.
How it works: Once you get to the home screen, click on the “renters” icon. From there, you navigate four different tabs of information starting from “home,” where you’ll input your personal details and address. After that, it goes over “your stuff,” PolicyGenius recommended $25,000 in coverage, but you can adjust.
From there, under the “protection” tab, you pick your deductible, personal liabilities, medical payments to others, and loss of use. Answer a few quick questions about safety for added discounts and then add-on protections if you want identity theft, water backup/ water damage, or earthquake coverage. Finally, you reach the checkout, which allows you to enter credit card or bank info and buy the policy.
Speed: 5 minutes
Results: On the very last tab, I was offered a quote from Stillwater for $9 a month. I breezed through the process but only received one quote.
Overall Score: 9.4/10

CoverHound
CoverHound offers a free online comparison tool that calculates quotes for both personal and business insurance. Its Learning Center answers insurance-related questions with articles that help sell its policies. The company prides itself on compensating its advisors based on service rather than commission, which hopefully translates into better recommendations for policyholders.
How it works: It’s just seven pages to go from the homepage to the quote screen. At the bottom, you see BBB, McAfee Secure, and TRUSTe certificates. And when you provide your personal details right before the quote, there’s an obvious pre-fill authorization that says it will read your insurance history and credit history.
Speed: 2 minutes
Results: It took about 15 seconds of processing, and the quote tool came back with no results. They didn’t try to trick me into a quote or send me to an insurance company ‘s homepage. Instead, they gave me a friendly face for a licensed insurance advisor and a phone number I could call along with hours of operation.
Overall Score: 7.4/10

QuoteWizard
QuoteWizard sells leads to insurance agents with a business model like its parent company, Lending Tree, which helps people with mortgages. The lead-generation site supplies blog articles to answer insurance questions and review top-tier companies such as State Farm, USAA, and American Family Insurance. Besides renters, the company also offers auto, health, life, and home insurance.
How It Works: From the homepage or the renters insurance page, you can quickly get a quote by starting with your ZIP code. From there, it’s 12 fast screens to get all your personal information and selections for renters insurance coverage.
Speed: 2 minutes
Results: You click the “Get My Renter Quotes.” On that page, the fine print says you agree to “telemarketing calls, text messages, emails, and postal mail.” The only result redirected to an insurance company ‘s site where I’d have to reenter the info all over again.
Overall Score: 7.3/10

SmartFinancial
SmartFinancial’s homepage has a cute pink pig who swears to compare quotes in minutes. Auto, commercial health, home, Medicare, and life insurance are listed as free quote options. Scroll down, and you’ll find recent insurance guides and articles designed to help you make the right decision.
How it works: You zip through a snappy user interface to input your basic personal information and the rental home address. But it asked no questions about renters insurance other than the amount of personal property you want to protect.
Speed: 2 minutes
Results: I get two options. One is a quote from AIG that says coverage is as low as $14 a month. I click that, and it leads to a life insurance quote. Bait-and-switch is not cool. I asked for renters, not life insurance. The other choice is talking to an agent by clicking “call me.”
Overall Score: 7.0/10

NetQuote
NetQuote gives consumers nationwide a free online insurance comparison tool, and in exchange for their queries, they become leads for insurance agents. The company also quotes auto, business, health, homeowners, and life insurance. The company has been around since 1989 and claims to be the most visited insurance shopping site on the web.
How it works: From the homepage, I clicked renters insurance. From there, I was prompted to enter my ZIP code and my personal details, including name and address. After that, at the bottom, there is a huge chunk of small print. Reading it, I find out they would sell my information to up to eight different companies.
Speed: 2 minutes
Results: I was told to “click 2 to 3 companies to find the best rate.” I got Lemonade, Liberty Mutual, Allstate, and Progressive links. Clicking the links restarts the process at the respective sites. I could get the same results by skipping NetQuote altogether.
Overall Score: 6.8/10

Overall Quote-Comparison Site Ratings
Company | Legitimacy | Speed | Helpful Information | Results | Overall |
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PolicyGenius | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8.5 | 9.4 |
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CoverHound | 8 | 10 | 9 | 2.5 | 7.4 |
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Quote Wizard | 7 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 7.3 |
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SmartFinancial | 7 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 7.0 |
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NetQuote | 6.5 | 10 | 8 | 2.5 | 6.8 |
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