Renters Insurance Quotes (February 2025)
The national average cost of renters insurance is $20 per month. It provides coverage for your personal belongings, loss of use, and more.
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Written byJulia Taliesin
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Julia Taliesin is an insurance content writer at Insurify. She began her career as a journalist, covering local government and business in Somerville, Mass.
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Edited byEvelyn Pimplaskar
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10+ years in insurance and personal finance content
30+ years in media, PR, and content creation
Evelyn leads Insurify’s content team. She’s passionate about creating empowering content to help people transform their financial lives and make sound insurance-buying decisions.
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Reviewed byMark Friedlander
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Corporate communications director for Insurance Information Institute
20+ years in insurance and communications
As Director, Corporate Communications for Triple-I, Mark serves as the non-profit’s national spokesperson, sharing information and education on a wide array of insurance issues.
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Table of contents
Renters insurance is an affordable protection that can provide peace of mind. It insures your belongings, protects you from financial liability, and pays for additional expenses if a covered event makes your rental home temporarily unlivable.
Since you’re not insuring a building structure, a renters policy is pretty cheap for the protection it provides. The national average cost of HO-4 renters insurance is $20 per month, or around $240 per year, according to Insurify’s analysis of Quadrant data.
Quick Facts
Discounts for bundling policies like renters and auto or paying in full could reduce your premiums.
Renters insurance typically covers your bicycle.[1]
Renters insurance doesn’t cover damage from floods or earthquakes.
Do you need renters insurance?
Everyone who rents their home should have renters insurance. Many rental agreements require tenants to buy their own insurance coverage. Your landlord’s insurance policy doesn’t protect your personal items. So if you don’t have renters insurance, you’d be responsible for paying out of pocket to replace your belongings.
For example, imagine a fire in your building destroys most of your personal items. Your landlord’s policy covers the structural damage but not the items in your unit. Without renters insurance, you have to replace all your belongings using your own money.
With renters insurance, you file a claim with your insurance company for reimbursement or replacement for your damaged items. After investigating the incident, your insurer provides a settlement that you can use to replace the damaged items with new ones.
The loss of use coverage in your renters policy also pays for temporary housing if the fire leaves your home uninhabitable.
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What renters insurance covers
Renters insurance covers many different losses you might face as a tenant. It covers damage from disasters like fires and windstorms. It also covers falling objects, hail, theft, vandalism, power surges, and sudden or accidental water discharge from a burst pipe or overflowing bathtub in an apartment.
Most renters policies cover personal property, liability, medical expenses, and loss of use. Here’s what each coverage does.
Personal items
Personal property insurance covers the belongings in your home or apartment, including furniture, clothing, decor, electronics, and small appliances. Most policies also include “off-premises” coverage for your belongings. For example, if someone stole property from your car, your insurer would cover that loss up to a certain percentage of your personal property limit.
This insurance also covers anything you’ve rented or borrowed, your bicycle, and sports equipment. Be sure to understand whether your policy will pay actual cash value or replacement cost value.
Liability
Liability insurance covers your legal and financial responsibility in third-party claims of bodily injury. The liability portion of your policy also covers claims related to accidental damage you cause to someone else’s belongings.
Medical expenses
If someone gets injured in your home, medical expenses coverage will pay for some of their medical bills, whether or not you were responsible for the incident.
Loss of use
Loss of use insurance pays for temporary living expenses (like a hotel stay and restaurant meals) if your home or apartment becomes uninhabitable after a covered loss.
What renters insurance doesn’t cover
Like home insurance, renters insurance has some common coverage gaps. Here’s what your policy never covers:
Flood damage: You can buy flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer. This could be a good additional protection if you live in a ground-floor apartment or a storm-prone area. Renters insurance does cover water damage from events like a pipe bursting or an upstairs tenant leaving the water running and causing an overflow into your apartment.
Earthquake damage: You can get coverage for earthquake damage from state-backed or private insurers. This will reimburse you if an earthquake damages your belongings.
Vehicle damage: Renters insurance doesn’t cover damage to your vehicle. You need collision or comprehensive auto insurance for that protection. Your policy may reimburse you for belongings someone stole from your car, up to a limit.
Consider customizing your coverage if you have expensive valuables or want extra protection. For example, you can increase your liability coverage limit or add an umbrella liability policy.
You can also add an “endorsement” or a “floater” to get more coverage for valuables like jewelry, collectible items, and special or expensive sports equipment. Renters policies typically have a lower personal property limit for valuables, so it’s good to assess whether you need extra protection.
How to get a renters insurance quote
Renters insurance helps protect your possessions, cover your liability, and reimburse you for additional living expenses if your apartment isn’t livable. Here’s how you can get a renters insurance quote.
1. Gather personal information
First, gather all your personal information, including your name, date of birth, email, phone number, and current address (the unit the policy covers). You may also need to provide your last address and Social Security number. Some insurers also ask what kind of building you live in, like a two-family home or a high-rise.
If you want to add a roommate to the policy, be sure to collect their information as well.
2. Consider how much coverage you need
This is probably the most important step. You want enough coverage to protect yourself but don’t want to pay for what you don’t need.
The best way to do this is to make even an incomplete home inventory checklist. (You can always add to it over time.) Walk through each room and take photos of things like furniture, clothing, electronics, tools, and hobby materials. Store any receipts you have, and keep that information safe.
To select your liability limits, consider your net worth. This coverage protects you if someone gets injured in your home and files for damages. Medical expenses coverage pays for bills if someone else is injured in your home. Limits are usually relatively low.
Loss of use coverage will also have a smaller range. A higher limit means more coverage if your unit is unlivable and it costs more to stay elsewhere.
Note if the insurer offers any optional coverages. For example, you might be able to add extra protection for personal electronics or disaster insurance like earthquake coverage.
Lastly, decide on a deductible. That’s what your insurance deducts from your payout after a claim. A higher deductible means a lower monthly payment. But you’ll get a smaller payout when you file a claim. Think about what works for your budget and cash flow.
3. Look for discounts
Discounts can help lower your premium costs. Here are some examples of things that can earn you a discount:
Bundling with auto insurance
Paying your premium in full
Paying online
Shopping for a policy before a current policy ends
Being claims-free
Having an in-building security system
4. Compare quotes
Shopping around and comparing quotes is the best way to save money on insurance. It also helps you find the best fit.
The Insurance Information Institute recommends getting quotes from at least three different insurance companies. Once you identify your coverage needs, you’re ready to compare quotes and find the best deal on what you need.
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Average cost of renters insurance
Renters insurance is a relatively affordable protection. The national average cost of renters insurance is $20 per month for $30,000 of personal property coverage and $100,000 of liability coverage, according to Insurify analysis of Quadrant data.
Renters insurance quotes vary between insurance companies and around the country. Insurers calculate premiums differently, and your location, pets, credit history, coverage amount, deductible, and other factors also affect premiums.
Here’s the average monthly cost of renters insurance by state.
Average Monthly Cost by State
Renters insurance with roommates
You can get renters insurance if you live with roommates. But it’s important to know that your renters insurance policy won’t automatically cover the other people you live with (and vice versa). Depending on your state and insurance company, you might be able to add a roommate to your renters insurance policy so you both have coverage.
But sharing a renters insurance policy with roommates has downsides. For one thing, you’d have to adjust your renters policy every time you change roommates.
Plus, a claim anyone makes on the policy will affect your insurance history and could result in higher rates. And, while no one wants to think about it, a falling out between you and your roommates could seriously complicate the claims process (and even lead to legal action).
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Renters insurance quotes FAQs
If you still have questions about renters insurance, this additional information can be helpful for tenants.
The cheapest renters insurance company for you will vary depending on several factors, especially where you live. For example, Travelers Insurance has an average rate of $17 per month, according to Insurify analysis of Quadrant data. Travelers offers renters insurance in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Erie Insurance has an average rate of $15 per month but offers coverage in only 12 states.
Many landlords and property managers require renters insurance as part of a lease agreement. Even if your landlord doesn’t, renters insurance is still worth it. Remember that your landlord’s insurance doesn’t provide any coverage for your belongings, so you’d have to pay out of pocket to replace any damaged items after a covered loss, regardless of the cause.
Typically, renters insurance covers a hotel stay and additional living expenses for 12–24 months or until it’s safe to live in your home again. Policies do have a limit and only cover additional expenses. That means if you paid $900 per month in rent and a hotel stay costs $1,200 per month, your policy would reimburse you for $300. Expenses can also include things like food, laundry, pet boarding, and parking.
You can get renters insurance in a shared household, but consider what coverage makes sense first. For example, if you live with family and they have a home insurance policy, it might already cover you. If you’re married and live in an apartment, you could get a shared renters policy. We recommend getting your own separate renters policy if you live with roommates, but you might be able to share.
You can likely bundle your policies when an insurance company offers renters and auto insurance. It’s also a great way to save money on coverage. Discounts for bundling multiple coverages are some of the best out there.
Sources
- Insurance Information Institute. "Renters Insurance."
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Julia TaliesinInsurance Content Writer
Julia Taliesin is an insurance content writer at Insurify. She began her career as a journalist, covering local government and business in Somerville, Mass. She reported multiple investigative stories about municipal finances and budget allocation, building development and inspection, and personnel. When the pandemic began she became a de facto public health reporter, writing daily and weekly reports using available data to quickly communicate rates of infection and city response.
She's worked for print and digital outlets, writing everything from quick-hit breaking news to long-form community features. More recently, Julia managed content strategy at a startup creating a social platform for licensed nurses, overseeing a team of nurse freelancers and editing interview transcripts and news articles for publication.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in communications from Simmons University, with a focus in journalism. Outside of work, Julia enjoys working on crafting projects, learning about homesteading, and singing in cover bands.
10+ years in insurance and personal finance content
30+ years in media, PR, and content creation
Evelyn leads Insurify’s content team. She’s passionate about creating empowering content to help people transform their financial lives and make sound insurance-buying decisions.
Featured in
Corporate communications director for Insurance Information Institute
20+ years in insurance and communications
As Director, Corporate Communications for Triple-I, Mark serves as the non-profit’s national spokesperson, sharing information and education on a wide array of insurance issues.
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