- Renters insurance is specifically for the contents of your rental unit, but not the building itself.
- Unlike home insurance, renters insurance premiums are extremely cheap.
- Some insurance providers allow you customize your renters insurance to suit your exact needs or budget.
While homeowners should always have house insurance to protect their largest asset, what about the millions of Americans who merely rent? Luckily, there is a product called renters insurance that fills the gap. While you can’t insure the physical building or apartment you rent — the owner needs to do that — you can still insure it contents. That means your furniture, clothes, electronics, and other personal items. To get your own renters insurance, do an online search for companies in your area that provide it.
The best thing about renters insurance is that it’s extremely cheap. Most standard plans will cost you less than $20 a month. It’s a worthy investment, in case your upstairs neighbor accidently floods your apartment or some other tragedy strikes your home. Search online for the various types of renters insurance coverage and their estimated prices.
Progressive
Progressive is an insurance giant in the United States. Unlike some competitors, they provide insurance in all 50 states. The average cost of a renters insurance policy from Progressive is $19.52. It’s on the higher end of the scale, but it might be worth the extra few bucks. If you can bundle your car or life insurance along with it, you’ll save a bit more on all your policies.
Progressive also offers a variety of discounts, including:
- Paying for the full year up front;
- Opting for e-billing;
- Living in a gated or secured community, or;
- Even getting a quote more than three days before the policy’s required start date.
You can also tack on some extra riders to your Progressive renters insurance. They offer additional coverage for water/plumbing backups, earthquake damage, and even personal injury.
State Farm
State Farm is another fully national brand, available across the entire country. They also offer some of the lowest-cost renters insurance we could find, averaging just $8.63 per month for a standard policy. Although State Farm didn’t offer as many discount options as their competitors, we can reasonably argue they don’t have to. Not at those low prices.
State Farm is known for it’s excellent customer service via phone. Unfortunately for millennials who hate using the phone, their online customer service isn’t quite as good.
Like most insurance companies, you can save some additional money if you bundle other insurance policies together with your renters insurance. State Farm also offers additional coverage for things like waterbeds, identity theft protection, and high-value personal property.
Amica
A renters insurance policy at Amica can be as low as $4 a week. Even better, the standard deductible is only $100. That’s one of the lowest renters insurance deductibles we found anywhere. Their standard policy includes limitless personal property coverage. As such, it will cover everything you own in your rental — no matter how much or how little that is.
Amica offers additional discounts for those who are claim-free, bundle their auto insurance, or opt for paperless billing and autopay. Plus, there’s a loyalty discount if you’re a customer for longer than two years. Amica also offers additional coverage for smart devices and personal electronics, identity theft protection, and replacement cash value personal property options.
Assurant
Assurant is another popular choice for renters around the country. With an average standard monthly premium of about $11.75, it’s easy to see why. Assurant is also known for it’s quick, easy, and straight forward online sign up process. The only real downside for some may be that their customer support is primarily over the phone, and not online.
Assurant offers discounts for those with clean claim histories and to renters with safety features in their homes. We’re talking things like security cameras, camera doorbells, or full alarm systems. Like many other renters insurance options, Assurant offers additional coverage for things such as identity theft, replacement cash value personal property coverage, and sewage backup.
Toggle
Toggle might not be for everyone, but it’s still an interesting choice for renters insurance. For starters, it’s only available in 25 states for now. On the other hand, it’s highly customizable and incredibly cheap. The average monthly premium for Toggle renters insurance is just $8.50. It can even drop below $5 per month, if you choose a plan with the highest deductible of $1,000.
You can also set your personal property coverage to $0 for an even cheaper premium. However, that somewhat defeats the largest reason most people buy insurance, which is to protect their stuff.
Toggle, which offers their services entirely online, offers additional coverage for things like pet damage, provides insurance for business property of side hustles, and can even lump your partner/significant other and their things into your policy.
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