Renters insurance

Renters insurance for about the price of one takeout order

Your landlord’s policy covers the building and nothing of yours. An HO-4 renters policy covers your belongings, your liability and a hotel if the unit becomes unlivable, and the national average is $171 a year.

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Coverage often effective same day Proof of insurance emailed to your landlord Bundles with auto

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Renters insurance is the highest-value policy most people never buy. Using NAIC data, the Insurance Information Institute reports a national average HO-4 premium of $171 a year, roughly $14 a month, against a national homeowners average of $1,569. State averages run from $123 in North Dakota to $262 in Mississippi, and the NAIC puts typical premiums between $15 and $30 a month depending on location, unit size and what you own.

For that, you get three things. Personal property coverage pays to replace your belongings after fire, theft, most water damage, vandalism and a long list of other perils, whether the loss happens in your apartment or in your car. Personal liability, usually $100,000 to $300,000, pays if you injure someone or damage someone else's property, including the increasingly common case of a bathtub overflow that damages the unit below yours. And loss of use pays for a hotel and extra meals while your unit is repaired.

Two misconceptions keep people uninsured. The first is that a landlord's policy covers tenants; it does not, and it never has. The second is that possessions are not worth insuring. Add up a laptop, a phone, a TV, a bike, a mattress, a couch, kitchen gear and clothing and most one-bedroom apartments cross $20,000 quickly. Replacing all of it at once, out of pocket, is the actual risk.

Below you will find monthly premiums by coverage level and deductible, the rating factors that matter, what the policy covers and excludes, the endorsements worth buying, and how to document what you own so a claim settles on evidence rather than memory. Pricing, available perils and endorsements vary by state and carrier.

What to pair it with

Three moves that finish the job

The base policy is cheap. These handle liability above it and the peril it excludes.

2 minutes

Quote an HO-4 policy

Pick a contents limit, a liability limit and a deductible, and get proof of insurance for your landlord, often the same day.

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Umbrella liability

Adds $1 million or more above your renters and auto liability for typically $200 to $400 a year. Worth it once you have income or savings to protect.

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Excluded elsewhere

Contents flood coverage

Flood is excluded from every renters policy. NFIP contents-only coverage exists for tenants, with a 30-day waiting period in most cases.

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What it costs

Monthly renters insurance cost by coverage and deductible

Sample monthly premiums with $100,000 of personal liability and replacement-cost contents. Raising your deductible from $500 to $1,000 typically trims 10% to 20% of premium.

Personal property limit	$500 deductible	$1,000 deductible	$2,500 deductible
$20,000	$13	$11	$9
$30,000	$16	$14	$11
$50,000	$22	$19	$15
$75,000	$28	$24	$20
$100,000	$35	$30	$25

Sample rates for August 2026, benchmarked against the NAIC national average HO-4 premium of $171 a year and the NAIC’s stated $15 to $30 monthly range. Actual premiums vary by state, ZIP code, building construction, claims history, credit-based insurance score where permitted, and the endorsements you add. Not an offer of insurance.

Rating factors

What actually moves your premium

Small policy, short list. Most of it is about the building and the ZIP code.

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Where you rent. State averages range from $123 in North Dakota to $262 in Mississippi in NAIC data, and theft and weather exposure inside a metro area can move the rate again.
How much contents coverage you buy. This is the main dial. Doubling the contents limit typically adds 40% to 60% to premium, not 100%, because liability and loss of use come along at the same price.
Replacement cost versus actual cash value. Replacement cost pays what a new equivalent item costs today; actual cash value subtracts depreciation. The upgrade usually costs a few dollars a month and is the single best value on the policy.
Deductible. Moving from $500 to $1,000 commonly saves 10% to 20%. Keep it at an amount you could pay from your checking account tomorrow.
Liability limit. Going from $100,000 to $300,000 often costs $2 to $5 a month, which is why there is little reason to carry the minimum.
Building features and bundling. Sprinklers, monitored alarms, deadbolts and newer construction earn credits, and bundling with an auto policy commonly discounts 10% to 25% across both.

What renters insurance covers, and what it does not

An HO-4 policy has four moving parts. Two of them people forget they have.

Coverage	What it pays for	Typical limit
Personal property	Your belongings after fire, smoke, theft, vandalism, most water damage, wind and other named perils, including items stolen from your car or while traveling.	$20,000 to $100,000, on a replacement-cost basis if you elect it
Personal liability	Injuries to guests, dog bites, and damage you cause to the building or a neighbor’s unit, plus legal defense.	$100,000 to $500,000
Loss of use	Hotel, short-term rental and extra meal costs while your unit is uninhabitable after a covered loss.	Commonly 20% to 40% of the contents limit
Medical payments to others	Small guest injuries without a liability finding.	$1,000 to $5,000

The exclusions are consistent across carriers. Flood is excluded, and tenants can buy NFIP contents-only coverage separately. Earthquake generally requires an endorsement or a separate policy. Your roommate's property is not covered unless they are named on the policy, which is why roommates should each hold their own. Damage to the building's structure is the landlord's problem unless you caused it, in which case it lands under your liability coverage.

Sublimits catch people. Jewelry theft is commonly capped near $1,500, cash around $200, and firearms, electronics and collectibles have their own caps. Schedule high-value items individually.
Water backup needs an endorsement. Sewer or drain backup into a basement unit is usually not covered without adding it, typically for a few dollars a month.
Bedbugs, pests and mold are largely excluded. Mold is sometimes covered in a small sublimit when it results from a covered water loss, but never as a maintenance issue.
Business property is limited. If you run a business from your rental, on-premises business property is capped low and business liability is excluded, so ask about an endorsement or a separate policy.

One requirement to check before you buy: many leases specify a minimum liability limit, often $100,000 or $300,000, and require the landlord be listed as an interested party. Send us the lease clause and we will match it exactly so the certificate is accepted the first time.

Build the inventory before you need it

Contents claims are settled on proof. Ten minutes of work now decides whether an adjuster reimburses what you actually owned or what you can remember under stress.

Video every room. Narrate as you go, open closets and drawers, and get the model numbers of electronics and appliances on camera.
Photograph receipts for anything over about $500. Email them to yourself so they live off-device.
List the big-ticket items in a simple spreadsheet. Item, purchase date, price, serial number. Twenty lines is usually enough to cover most of the value.
Store it in the cloud. A copy that burns with your apartment is not a copy.
Update it once a year and any time you buy furniture, a bike or a computer.

Elect replacement cost, then understand how it pays. Most carriers first pay actual cash value, then release the remaining replacement-cost benefit once you actually buy the replacement and send the receipt. Budget for that gap, and never throw damaged property away before an adjuster documents it.

When a loss happens, file promptly, get a police report for theft, and keep every receipt for temporary lodging and meals, because loss-of-use reimbursement is based on the extra cost above your normal spending. If a claim involves damage to a neighbor's unit or an injury to a guest, refer them to your carrier rather than negotiating yourself; that is exactly what the liability coverage and its legal defense are for.

Is it worth it, and when is it required?

Run the arithmetic. At the national average of $171 a year, a decade of premium is about $1,710. One apartment fire, one burglary or one overflowing tub that soaks the unit below can exceed that in an afternoon, and the liability side has no practical ceiling without coverage. There is no other insurance product where the ratio is this lopsided.

Requirements are also spreading. Most professionally managed buildings now require renters insurance with a stated liability minimum as a lease condition, and some require the property manager be named as an interested party so they are notified of cancellation. Buying your own policy is nearly always cheaper than the landlord's forced-placement option, which typically protects the landlord rather than you.

Three groups who should not skip it: students living off campus, whose belongings may only be partially covered under a parent's homeowners policy and only while they remain a dependent; anyone with a dog, since liability is the real exposure; and anyone in a ground-floor or basement unit, where water backup and flood questions both apply.

Two policies pair naturally with it. Umbrella liability stacks over your renters and auto limits for a couple hundred dollars a year, and flood insurance covers the one peril your HO-4 will never pay for. Our guide on whether renters insurance is worth it works through the break-even cases, and what homeowners insurance covers is useful reading for the year you buy a place.

Sources & further reading

Learn first, buy second

Guides for renters

Value

Is renters insurance worth it?

The break-even math, what a landlord’s policy really covers, and the lease clauses that require coverage.

Read the guide

Coverage

What homeowners insurance covers

How the six coverage parts work when you move from renting to owning, and which exclusions carry over.

Read the guide

Flood

Do I need flood insurance?

Contents-only NFIP coverage for tenants, zone lookups and the 30-day waiting period.

Read the guide

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How much is renters insurance per month?

The NAIC national average HO-4 premium is $171 a year, about $14 a month, and the NAIC describes a typical range of $15 to $30 a month depending on location, unit size and what you own. State averages run from $123 a year in North Dakota to $262 in Mississippi. More contents coverage and lower deductibles push you toward the top of the range.

Does my landlord’s insurance cover my belongings?

No. A landlord’s policy covers the building and the owner’s liability, not tenants’ property or tenants’ liability. If a fire destroys the building, the owner is made whole and you are not, unless you carry your own HO-4 policy.

How much contents coverage do I need?

Add up what it would cost to replace everything you own at today’s prices, room by room. Most one-bedroom apartments land between $20,000 and $40,000, and a furnished multi-bedroom home often exceeds $60,000. Choose replacement cost rather than actual cash value so depreciation is not subtracted.

Does renters insurance cover water damage?

It covers sudden water damage from things like a burst pipe or an overflowing appliance, and your liability if your overflow damages a neighbor’s unit. It does not cover flood, which requires a separate policy, and sewer or drain backup usually requires a low-cost endorsement.

Can roommates share one policy?

Only if both are named on it, and many carriers will not do that for unrelated adults. Separate policies are cleaner: each person’s property and liability are handled independently, a claim by one does not affect the other’s record, and each of you keeps coverage when the lease ends.

Is my stuff covered outside my apartment?

Generally yes. Personal property coverage typically follows your belongings anywhere in the world, including a laptop stolen from a car or luggage taken on a trip, subject to your deductible and to category sublimits for items like jewelry and electronics.

Insure everything you own for about $15 a month

Tell us your address, your contents estimate and the liability limit your lease requires. We shop it, bundle it with your auto if that saves money, and email the certificate to your landlord.

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