Your landlord insures the building. Not your things.
It is the cheapest policy we write and the one people are most surprised to need. The belongings are the obvious half. The liability is the half that matters.
What renters insurance actually does
Three jobs, and most people only know about the first one.
It replaces your belongings. Furniture, clothes, the laptop, the bike, the television. Add up what it would cost to buy it all again in one afternoon and the number is always higher than people guess. Ask for replacement cost rather than actual cash value — the difference is between a new sofa and the depreciated value of a six-year-old one, and it is usually a few dollars a month.
It covers what you are liable for. If a guest is injured in your apartment, if your dog bites someone, if a tap you left running soaks the unit downstairs — that is your liability, not your landlord's, and repairing someone else's apartment is not a small bill. This is the part that turns an inconvenience into a genuine problem, and it is why the policy exists.
It pays for somewhere to live. If a fire or a burst pipe makes the place uninhabitable, the policy covers the difference between your rent and what it costs to live somewhere else while it is repaired.
Your belongings are also covered away from the apartment, within limits — the suitcase stolen on holiday, the laptop taken from your car, a student's things in a dorm room. Worth knowing before you assume a loss is not claimable.
- Furniture, clothing, electronics and everything else you own
- Personal liability if someone is injured or their property damaged
- Damage you cause to the building or a neighboring unit
- Somewhere to live while the apartment is repaired
- Your belongings away from home, within limits
- Legal defense costs if a liability claim becomes a lawsuit
Worth knowing before you buy
The valuable things have their own small limits. Jewelry, watches, firearms, cameras, collectibles and cash sit under sub-limits that are far below the overall coverage — an engagement ring is the usual casualty. Anything genuinely valuable should be scheduled individually, which also tends to remove the deductible on it.
Roommates are not automatically covered. Unless they are named on the policy, your coverage is yours. Two unrelated people sharing an apartment generally need two policies, and that is usually cheaper than it sounds.
Flood is separate here too. No renters policy covers flood, and a garden-level or basement apartment in New Jersey has real exposure — much of it from heavy rain overwhelming drainage rather than from any river or ocean. Contents-only flood coverage exists for tenants and is worth asking about on a lower floor.
Your landlord may require it, and may require more than you think. Many leases now specify a minimum liability limit and ask to be named as an interested party. Send us the lease clause and we will make sure what we write satisfies it.
It usually makes your car insurance cheaper. Most carriers discount auto for having a second policy with them, and the discount frequently covers a meaningful share of what the renters policy costs. If you have auto with us, ask us to price both together.
Renters Insurance questions we hear a lot
How much does renters insurance actually cost?
Less than most people expect — it is consistently the least expensive policy in personal lines. What moves the number is the amount of contents coverage, the liability limit, the deductible, where you live, and whether you are bundling it with auto. We would rather quote your actual situation than put a figure on a web page that turns out not to be yours.
How much contents coverage do I need?
Walk through the apartment room by room and total what it would cost to replace what is in it, not what you paid. People routinely land on double their first guess once they count the clothes and the kitchen. It is also worth photographing each room on your phone and keeping it somewhere off your phone — after a fire, a list is the difference between a smooth claim and trying to remember what you owned.
My roommate has a policy. Am I covered by it?
Almost certainly not. Unless you are named on it, their policy covers their belongings and their liability. If you are not related, you each need your own — and if you are on the lease, your own liability exposure is real regardless of what they have.
Does it cover my things in my car, or at college?
Generally yes, subject to limits that are lower than the coverage at home. A laptop stolen from a car is usually a renters claim rather than an auto claim, since auto policies do not cover personal belongings. A student living in a dorm is often covered under a parent's homeowners or renters policy — worth confirming rather than assuming, particularly once they move into an off-campus apartment.
I am moving. Does the policy follow me?
It can, and it should — tell us before the move rather than after. Coverage is tied to the address on the policy, and your belongings are generally covered while in transit between two places you live. If the move is out of state, tell us that too; we are licensed in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland and can usually keep you with the same carrier.