Your landlord's insurance doesn't cover your stuff.
Whether you’re renting an apartment, condominium, a house, or a shop-top flat, your landlord’s insurance doesn’t protect your property. When your neighbor forgets to turn the oven off and the building goes up in smoke, your time, money, and memories will too if they’re not covered under a renter’s policy.
Renter’s Coverage Options
Standard renters insurance coverages include personal liability, personal property, loss of use, and medical payments to others. These coverages offer protection against damage to your personal belongings from a covered loss and liability for someone else’s damages or injuries, plus additional living expenses if you’re forced to live elsewhere due to a covered loss. You can also add coverage to your renters insurance policy for personal injury lawsuits and water back-up incidents.
Personal Property
A standard renters insurance policy covers damage to your personal belongings, up to your policy’s limits, such as furniture, clothing, electronics, and appliances you own. Damaged or stolen personal property can also be covered while travelling or in a storage unit. Depending on your policy, personal items may be covered for their replacement cost value or actual cash value.
Loss of Use
If you’re unable to stay in your rental unit due to a covered incident, loss of use coverage may pay for hotel, rent, and food expenses above your normal cost of living. Be sure to keep your receipts so your expenses can be properly documented and reimbursed.
Personal Liability
If you’re liable for injuries to another person or damage to their property, personal liability may cover you up to the limits of your policy, as well as lawsuit costs.
Medical Payments
If someone gets injured in your rental space, medical payments coverage may pay for their medical bills up to your policy’s limit.
Optional Renters Insurance Coverages
Water Back-Up
Some apartments and rental homes have sump pumps in their basements or crawl spaces. If plumbing or sewer systems get backed up, water can seep into your place and cause costly damage. Adding water back-up coverage on your renters insurance policy may pay for damage to your belongings and the cost of water removal.
Personal Injury
Personal injury coverage may pay for your legal fees and damages you owe from slander or libel lawsuits, which is something you say or write that damages someone’s reputation or business.