8 Best Renters Insurance of 2022

Renters insurance — also known as an HO-4 policy — is a homeowner’s insurance policy that protects a renter’s personal belongings against theft, fire, certain natural disasters and other perils.

Renters insurance also provides liability protection, covers medical payments to others and pays additional living expenses when a covered loss prevents the tenant from living in the home. This type of policy does not cover the dwelling itself.

The best renters insurance companies provide standard coverage and plenty of add-ons to help you customize your policy, all for an affordable premium. In fact, according to the NAIC, the average premium cost of a renters insurance policy is only $15 a month. The insurers listed here offer coverage options on or below that price range.

Read on to find out more about our top picks for the best renters insurance providers of the year.

Our Top Picks for Best Renters Insurance

• Lemonade – Most for Customized Coverage
• Erie Insurance – Best Comprehensive Coverage
• Nationwide – Best Optional Add-Ons
• Amica Mutual – Best for Multiple Discounts
• Allstate – Best for Retirees
• Auto-Owners – Best Worldwide Coverage
• State Farm – Best for Reliable Coverage
• Young Alfred – Best Online Insurance Agency

Best Renters Insurance Reviews

Lemonade is an online insurance company with a unique business model. It takes a fixed percentage of all renter’s insurance premiums to cover its operational costs and then uses the remaining money to pay out covered claims. Whatever funds are leftover at the end of the year are donated to a charity chosen by policyholders.

Lemonade is an excellent choice if you are looking for basic renters insurance coverage for less. Its standard policy includes personal property, personal liability and loss of use.

You can customize your limits and deductibles to maximize savings and add scheduled personal property coverage for high-value items. Renters can also get a policy discount by installing protective devices such as fire and burglar alarms.

A downside to Lemonade's insurance is that they don't have brick-and-mortar locations. However, if you're looking for a digital-first company where you can do everything online, then Lemonade is the right choice for you.

ERIE Insurance offers a comprehensive base renters insurance policy and several different ways to save through bundled policy, multiple policies, safety equipment, advanced quote and age-based discounts.

Its base policy, the theErieSecure Tenant, includes worldwide personal property coverage and extended liability protection against slander, discrimination and cyberbullying. This is in addition to the standard medical payments and living expenses coverages.

ERIE's base policy can be customized through several different bundles, including:

• Advantage: increases coverage limits above base levels and includes identity theft coverage.
• Plus: waives the deductible if your loss exceeds $50,000 and increases coverage limits, adding coverage for trailers, watercraft, pets and business personal property.
• Select: includes everything mentioned above but offers higher limits, coverage for a larger watercraft and reimbursement of criminal defense costs up to $25,000 if you successfully fight a criminal indictment against you or your family.

Besides these, ERIE also sells optional extras like sewer and drain backup coverage, home-sharing coverage for those who rent out their apartments, earthquake coverage and flood insurance.

While you can get a renters insurance quote on ERIE's website, you will have to go through a local insurance agent to purchase a policy.

Nationwide stands out for its comprehensive basic renters insurance policy, which covers building additions, improvements or installations in your home and credit card protection against unauthorized transactions for up to the selected coverage amount. This policy also offers standard protection such as additional living expenses and medical payments to others.

You can customize Nationwide's basic policy with optional add-ons such as:

• Brand New Belongings: replace damaged or stolen items.
• Better Roof Replacement: covers roof replacement with better quality materials.
• Valuables Plus: additional coverage for high-value items like jewelry and fine art.
• Water Backup: protects your property against damage caused by backed-up sewers or drains.
• Theft Extension: extended coverage for belongings stolen from any motor vehicle, trailer or watercraft.
• Earthquake coverage: covers losses caused by earthquakes and volcanoes up to the selected limit.

Besides these, Nationwide offers related policies you can bundle with renters insurance for additional savings and protection, including auto and flood. Nationwide offers another good way to save with their claims-free discount, where customers qualify for better rates if they don't file any claims for a certain amount of time.

Amica Mutual earns top marks for having one of the most affordable renters insurance policies and multiple discount offerings.It has the lowest complaint ratio out of all the insurers on our list and offers live 24/7 claims processing.

Apart from these benefits, Amica’s basic renters policy is relatively standard. Its Basic coverage includes personal property, liability and loss of use. This policy can be coupled with add-ons such as extended protection for smart devices and computers, identity fraud coverage and personal property replacement-cost coverage.

Amica’s renters insurance features Renters Essentials®, a package designed for first-time renters. This package includes identity theft, liability, and coverage for your furniture, TV, computer, smartphone, jewelry, and clothes. Renters Essentials® allows you to earn credits — $100 a year for up to five years — to apply towards an Amica’s homeowners insurance policy if you buy a house in the future.

Allstate currently handles the US’s fourth-largest policy market share, and it’s one of the leading auto insurance providers in the US. As a reputable insurance company, Allstate offers reliable renters insurance coverage for personal property, liability, medical bills & expenses, and loss of use.

For policyholders over 55, the company offers discounts of up to 25% off the regular premiums. However, to be eligible, policyholders must not be actively seeking full-time employment.

Users can get quotes online and customize their plans based on coverage level, insurer payout limit, and deductible amount. You can customize your coverage and see how your cost would change with the different options. Additionally, Allstate offers a Home Inventory Guide and Digital Locker feature to help speed up any claims through the Allstate mobile app.

For added savings, Allstate offers a multi-policy discount when customers bundle their policies with auto insurance, and an Easy Pay Plan that lets customers save by scheduling their payments ahead of time.

Auto-Owners’ basic coverage is best for those living or who plan to live abroad, as it provides property and liability coverage anywhere in the world. Medical payments to others are also included, covering anyone injured in your house, as well as additional living expenses.

With Auto-Owners, policy owners can lower their premium by:

• Bundling renters insurance with auto insurance or life insurance
• Enrolling in paperless billing
• Paying the annual premium upfront in full.
• Installing safety devices, like smoke detectors and fire extinguishers
• Paying on time for 36 consecutive months or having a favorable loss history

Auto-Owners also sells optional supplements to its standard renters insurance policy, including Personal Property Replacement Cost and Renters Plus, which covers the loss of refrigerated products or damages due to water back-up.

As the nation's largest auto and homeowners insurer by market share, State Farm offers policyholders the peace of mind that comes from knowing they are doing business with a financially stable and reliable company. This is especially true for anyone who has experienced the inconvenience of having their policy sold to another insurer after their company went bankrupt.

State Farm offers standard renters insurance policies that cover personal liability, property damage and medical payments to others. Those concerned about the ever-increasing costs of living may also add inflation protection to their policy for an added cost.

To receive a quote, prospective customers can use State Farm’s renters insurance quote checklist and contents calculator to properly assess their living arrangements and personal belongings. With this information, the company can offer you a premium based on your insurance needs.

Renters insurance add-ons include:

• Additional liability protection coverage
• Additional business property coverage
• Identity theft restoration
• Earthquake damage
• Incidental business liability

Young Alfred isn’t an insurance company, but an insurance agency and comparison site. After a few short questions, Young Alfred checks your risk level against a billion or more data points to give you customized online quotes from several top-rated renters insurance companies.

While this service is nothing new — there are dozens, if not hundreds, of insurance comparison sites on the internet — Young Alfred stands out in three important ways:

• It only partners with companies rated A- or higher by financial rating firms A.M. Best and Demotech.
• It doesn’t sell your personal information to other companies.

It offers a free risk assessment that details the risk of common perils in the location you want to insure, so you can decide what optional policies are right for you.

Other renters insurance companies we considered

When selecting the best renter’s insurance, our methodology included customer satisfaction ratings, availability, and financial stability. The following companies fell short of fulfilling some of these requirements but they still offer discounts and a policy that might fit your specific needs.

Farmers

Farmers Insurance is not part of our main selection because of its high NAIC complaint ratio.

American Family

American Family is not part of our main list because of its high NAIC complaint and limited availability

USAA

Like American Family Insurance, USAA is not part of our top selection because of its limited availability and high NAIC complaint ratio.

Geico

Geico didn’t make it into our main list because it doesn’t underwrite its renter’s policy and is only available through agents.

Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual didn’t make it into our main list because of its high NAIC complaint score and because its discounts and low rates have limited availability.

The Hartford

Even though The Hartford has a low NAIC complaint rate and ranks above average in J.D. Power’s 2021 US Claim Satisfaction study, it didn’t make it into our main list because most of its discounts are available for AARP members only and has limited availability.

Renters Insurance Guide

What does renters insurance cover

Renters insurance typically includes three types of coverage:

Personal property coverage

Personal property coverage protects items you own, whether they are stored inside your home, in a storage unit or even in a hotel room or car while you're traveling. This coverage may even extend to other people’s belongings while they’re in your home.

Generally, personal property coverage applies if you suffer a loss or damage caused by any of these perils:

• Fire or lightning
• Windstorm or hail explosion
• Riot or civil commotion
• Aircraft vehicles
• Smoke
• Vandalism or malicious mischief and theft
• Falling objects
• Weight of ice, snow, or sleet
• Overflow of water or steam from a heating system or appliance
• Cracking or burning of a heating system or appliance
• Power surge
• Freezing of plumbing
• Volcanic eruption

Coverage limits apply with a basic personal property policy. If the item you want to insure exceeds the covered value, like highly valuable jewelry, you will need to purchase scheduled personal property coverage, often sold as either a supplemental policy or optional insurance rider.

There are several reimbursement options for personal property claims, including:

• Cash value: your personal belongings depreciate or lose value over time from the moment you purchase them. Actual cash value policies will reimburse you for the current value of the item, minus depreciation.
• Replacement value: the policy covers the full cost of the item’s replacement, without accounting for depreciation.

Personal liability or medical payments to others

Personal liability coverage protects your assets if someone sues you for property damage or injuries sustained in your home.

It also covers:

• Medical payments to guests and other third parties.
• Lawsuits if your pet injures a guest or destroys their personal property while they are visiting your home.
• Some, but not all, policies may also cover funeral expenses if the injuries sustained by your guests result in death.

Loss of use or additional living expenses (ALE)

ALE coverage sponsors the cost of staying somewhere else while damage to your residence is repaired or until you find a permanent place to live

Coverage may include:

• The cost of a hotel room or rent for a temporary apartment
• The cost of meals if you can’t cook at home and must eat out
• Pet boarding expenses
• The cost of personal property storage
• The costs of commuting from your temporary accommodation to your place of work

You must maintain receipts of all relevant expenses in order to submit a claim for reimbursement.

Be aware that ALE offers a limited coverage amount and has a time limit. After the time is up, the policy will not pay your living expenses, even if your situation has not returned to normal.

Identity theft protection

According to the Insurance Information Institute, some renters insurance policies may afford limited protection for lost credit cards and cash. Some insurers may offer supplemental identity theft protection policies that you can pair with renters insurance.

ID theft coverage may include:

• The services of a fraud specialist.
• The costs of replacing government-issued IDs.
• Reimbursement of legal costs and attorney fees.
• Reimbursement of administrative fees and related expenses.

If you're interested in identity theft protection but your renters insurance company doesn’t cover it, check out our guide to the best identity theft protection services to read about the best providers of the year.

Alternatively, if you've been the victim of identity theft and are looking to repair your credit without having to do the legwork, consider any of the best credit repair companies on our list.

What renters insurance doesn’t cover

Pet injury or death

Renters insurance may include a pet liability clause that protects you against lawsuits and medical expenses if your dog injures someone visiting your home. However, if your dog is injured or dies, you cannot file a claim with renters insurance because dogs are not considered personal property. To insure your loyal companion, look into a pet insurance policy.

Uninsured roommates

If you have roommates, your policy will not cover their personal property unless it has been explicitly added to the policy. Encourage them to take out policies for themselves so you can all be fully covered.

Although insurance companies allow joint renters insurance policies, this is not recommended because:

• If your roommate files a claim, you could be considered higher risk and your insurance rates may go up as a result.
• Splitting the premium could be complicated if one of you has items of higher value than the other.

Flooding or earthquakes

Renters insurance covers damage caused by fire, lightning, wind and hail, but not every natural disaster is covered. If an earthquake damages your rental house or the apartment floods renters insurance will not cover the losses.

In case of water damage due to a storm or a hurricane, it’s important to note that:

• Water damage may be covered if it’s due to a window breaking or the roof blowing off, causing water to enter the residence.
• Water damage is excluded from coverage if the water is in contact with the ground before reaching your home, as is the case with floods or storm surges.
• If the flooding triggers a fire or explosion or your home is looted after you evacuate, you may be covered for your losses, but the damage caused by floodwater is not included as a covered peril.

If you rent in flood-prone areas, you may want to look into flood insurance policies for additional protection.

Home-based businesses

Home-based business owners must be well-informed on the landlord’s homeowners insurance policy and their own renters insurance policy coverage. In most cases, personal items that are used for business purposes (appliances, raw materials, work computers) are not considered personal property and are excluded from renters insurance coverage.

Additionally, customers are not considered guests, which means that liability coverage does not protect you if they are injured on the premises.

To be fully protected, it’s best to look into additional small business insurance policies. This type of policy offers property protection for work-related items and income loss, along with general legal liability coverage.

What is the difference between renters insurance and homeowners insurance?

Homeowners insurance protects your home and personal property from damage or theft and extends personal liability coverage. Premiums vary by state but average around $100 per month nationally.

Renters insurance covers the tenant's belongings and protects them from legal and medical liabilities in case a guest is injured in the home. It does not cover the dwelling or primary structure, which means it is far less expensive than homeowner's insurance, often costing less than $20 a month.

As a separate type of policy, the landlord's insurance will cover the actual dwelling or primary structure and other structures like tool sheds and garages. The policy also protects personal property stored on the premises if it is used to service the rental, like any maintenance equipment (lawnmowers, leaf blowers, etc.).

What is the average cost of renters insurance?

Owning a home requires ensuring the dwelling itself, and since this isn’t the renters’ responsibility, renters insurance is far less expensive than homeowners’.

According to the NAIC, the national average cost of renters insurance is $180 annually, which comes down to $15 a month.

Renters insurance rates will vary depending on:

• The value of the items you’re looking to insure
• The level of coverage you want and the deductible amount
• Where you live
• The crime rate in your area
• The frequency of inclement weather like windstorms and fires

The five states where renters insurance is most expensive are Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. With that said, the highest average renters insurance premium is only $21.50 per month.

Average Renters Insurance Annual Premium Costs by State

Alabama $222	Alaska $175	Arizona $175	Arkansas $211	California- $178	Colorado $164
Connecticut $188	Delaware $157	D.C. $157	Florida $185	Georgia $214	Hawaii $181
Idaho $152	Illinois $166	Indiana $172	Iowa $144	Kansas $172	Kentucky $166
Louisiana $234	Maine $149	Maryland $161	Massachusetts $191	Michigan $185	Minnesota $140
Mississippi $252	Missouri $179	Montana $147	Nebraska $149	Nevada $182	New Hampshire $148
New Jersey $160	New Mexico $186	New York $189	North Carolina $158	North Dakota $126	Ohio $169
Oklahoma $236	Oregon $161	Pennsylvania $157	Rhode Island $185	South Carolina $184	South Dakota $127
Tennessee $195	Texas $225	Utah $155	Vermont $153	Virginia $152	Washington $160
West Virginia $189	Wisconsin $143	Wyoming $146

Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners, “Dwelling Fire, Homeowners Owner-Occupied, and Homeowners Tenant and Condominium/ Cooperative Unit Owner’s Insurance Report: Data for 2018”

How to save on renters insurance

Shop around and request online quotes

Premiums can vary considerably by company. Look into renters insurance policies with companies with which you already hold insurance policies of other types, such as car insurance. This could save you time and money through bundling or multiple policy discounts.

Bundle your policies

Most companies offer a discount when you purchase or “bundle” two or more types of policies, such as renters insurance with auto insurance. Bundling your insurance also allows you to pay both bills at once and consolidate your claims under one account.

Ask about discounts

Many insurance companies offer discounts if you meet the requirements. Examples of these are:

• Premium discount if you install safety devices around your home
• Reduced premium when you don’t file a claim for a specified timeframe
• Rate reductions for signing up for automatic payments or paying your policy annually instead of monthly

Choose a higher deductible

You can save by choosing a higher deductible. Some companies offer personal property deductibles as low as $250, but a lower deductible amount will increase your premium. If you opt for a higher deductible of $500 or $1,000, you can substantially decrease your monthly premium.

Negotiate a rent discount with your landlord

See if you can negotiate with your landlord for a reduction on your rent payments in exchange for having a renters insurance policy. Renters insurance is beneficial to your landlord, as it reduces their liability if one of your guests is injured on the property.

How to find the best renters insurance company

Check the company’s financial strength rating

While this won't ensure your claims are paid out on time, it could indicate that the company is less likely to go bankrupt and sell your policy to another insurer, creating a delay in payouts for ongoing claims.

Check customer satisfaction scores

Look into customer satisfaction rankings and complaint information as reported by organizations such as J.D. Power and the NAIC.

Negative feedback against an insurer doesn't necessarily mean they are disreputable but could shed light into their practices and treatment of customers.

Consult a broker

Speak with an independent insurance agent or broker that sells policies from multiple companies. Independent agents sell insurance products from several different companies, which could help you compare policies if you don't know where to start.

Don’t discount word of mouth

Ask friends and relatives who they’re insured with and about their satisfaction with the company, including any claims experiences they might have had.

How to file a claim

1. File a police or fire department report in case of fire, flood or theft. Keep a copy of the report for your records.
2. Phone your insurance company, explain the situation and inform them that you will be filing a claim. The company can also provide situation-specific information on any necessary documentation, reports, photographs and statements.
3. Inform your landlord of the situation and any damages or losses.
4. Make any necessary repairs to avoid further damage (in case of flood, for example). The insurance should cover these costs. Further damage arising from your delayed response will not be covered.
5. Document the damage and keep receipts for repairs and any added living expenses.
6. Consult your policy agreement to make sure what is covered by your insurer and what responsibilities are.
7. Initiate a claim with the insurance company. You can do this by contacting your insurer via email, phone or mobile app.

How We Found the Best Renters Insurance Companies

When looking for the best renters insurance companies in the country, we took into account the following:

• Customer satisfaction scores according to J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study This study looks at customer-reported data on each company's estimate, claims and repairs processes.
• Financial strength ratings as reported by insurance rating agency A.M. Best. A high financial stability rating means the company is less likely to declare bankruptcy in the near future, delaying claims payouts in the process.
• Complaint index data for property insurance policies, as compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). A low number of complaints, rated with an index below 1, may indicate higher customer satisfaction.

In the case of marketplaces and fintech insurers, which are not registered with the NAIC or have financial strength or customer service ratings, we considered the overall value offered.

That means we reviewed companies offering innovative quotes or claims processes or features that help customers compare policies with ease and speed.

Summary of the Best Renters Insurance Companies of 2022

• Lemonade – Most for Customized Coverage
• Erie Insurance – Best Comprehensive Coverage
• Nationwide – Best Optional Add-Ons
• Amica Mutual – Best for Multiple Discounts
• Allstate – Best for Retirees
• Auto-Owners – Best Worldwide Coverage
• State Farm – Best for Reliable Coverage
• Young Alfred – Best Online Insurance Agency