8 Best Renters Insurance Companies of 2022

A new renter may not think that renters insurance is necessary, but the landlord is not responsible should something happen to your personal belongings.

Renters insurance protects you and your belongings in various situations such as damage, theft, flood, etc.

Picking the right renters insurance involves work, time, and knowing what you want.

The PropertyNest team has analyzed customer service, affordability, and accessibility to determine the best renters insurance companies. We compared coverage options for each provider in 50 States. Find out what renters insurance companies are the best for your needs.

Lemonade: Best Online Service

Lemonade is one of the newer insurance companies out there and relies only on technology. Using solely technology helps Lemonade cut down on costs while still providing plenty of customer service. Those using Lemonade can set up their accounts, file claims, and make changes to their policies through Lemonade’s app.

Lemonade offers a number of different plans to suit your needs and budget, starting with the basics for only $5 per month. However, if you want even more features, an additional fee can be applied.

Lemonade Renters Pros and Cons

Lemonade is great for those who are looking for a tech-savvy app for immediate access to your policies, discounts, claims, and more. It is not ideal for someone who would rather speak directly to an agent.

Read a full Lemonade home insurance review.

Liberty Mutual: Best For Discounts

Liberty Mutual is perfect for those looking to save money through easily attainable discounts. Their standard renters insurance policies are pretty straightforward and can stand on their own without adding any customizable options.

Liberty Mutual Renters Insurance Pros and Cons

Liberty Mutual has been in the insurance industry for over 100 years, and for a good reason. They are known for their great discounts, but their policies themselves are not the most affordable on the market.

Read a full Liberty Mutual home insurance review.

Allstate: Best for Policy Bundles

Allstate is well-known in the insurance industry, especially when it comes to bundling policies. You get a great selection of basic policies while also having the option to purchase additional coverage if needed. You also receive great discounts for bundling your policies, helping you save more in the long run.

Allstate insurance starts at $4/Month when you bundle renters with car insurance. When you add the cost of your auto to this package, it will be well worth protecting both properties with one company.

Allstate Renters Insurance Pros and Cons

Allstate has a claims center that is always open, however, they do lack customer service. They are more expensive than other companies, but you can save by bundling certain policies.

If you bundle your policies, you will have contact with a local agent and may be eligible for discounts.

Read a full Allstate renters insurance review.

State Farm: Best Customer Service

The best national overall company should be affordable, reliable, and easily accessible. State Farm is available in all 50 states and is well known for their customer service. Founded in 1922, State Farm currently sells around 100 various types of insurance, including renters insurance.

Since State Farm is so widely available, your chance of speaking with a local representative is very high. Having a rep who is local is helpful since they should be savvy of any specific rules for your location.

State Farm’s basic policy covers personal property, medical payments, and other living expenses. You can add options such as identity theft and pet medical insurance if extra coverage is needed.

State Farm is our best overall pick for a variety of reasons, but mainly for the amount of coverage they provide.

Read a full State Farm renters insurance review.

State Farm Pros and Cons

Although State Farm is our number one pick for renters insurance, it still has its pros and cons, just like any other company. While State Farm provides a variety of add-on options, it does not provide round-the-clock customer service in case something goes wrong.

USAA: Best for Military Members and Veterans

USAA was created in 1922 and now has over 12 million members and offers services such as insurance coverage, planning for retirement, loans, and more.

For those in the military, veterans, or immediate families of the person in service, you may qualify for insurance with USAA. You will not be eligible to apply if you are not a veteran or directly associated with the military.

USAA Renters Insurance Pros and Cons

The major pro and con is that not everyone is eligible for coverage, but limited access means that customers receive more attention.

Erie Insurance: Best for Customer Satisfaction

Erie insurance was created in 1925 and provides renters insurance and home, life, and auto insurance. Available in only 12 states, Erie Insurance is limited but also exclusive. Erie Insurance provides additional insurance for several needs, such as jewelry and electronics coverage and identity recovery.

Places Where Erie Insurance is Available

• Illinois
• District of Columbia
• Wisconsin
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• Maryland
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• North Carolina
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Kentucky

Erie Insurance Pros and Cons

Erie Insurance is available to 12 different states, so access is limited. However, Erie Insurance is sold through 12,000 independent agents with more than 5.8 million policies in circulation. The limited availability could be a deal-breaker depending on where you live or what you are looking for.

Nationwide: Best for Additional Coverage

Additional coverage is beneficial when you have specific needs that the standard policy doesn’t include. Nationwide provides a wide range of options to help you customize your dream policy.

Nationwide Pros and Cons

With Nationwide, their claims center is open 24/7, however, you can only speak with a customer service representative during limited hours.

Jetty: Best for Airbnb Hosts

If you rent out your property as a vacation rental via Airbnb or another platform, you may not have thought about getting renters insurance to cover your guests.

Jetty has only been around since 2015, but has already partnered with two experienced businesses: State National Insurance Company and National Specialty Insurance Company.

Jetty Renters Insurance Pros and Cons

Jetty renters insurance is fairly exclusive and offers limited discounts, however, you receive a unique service for your rental business to make sure that everything is covered, plus some.

How we Picked & Methodology

To determine the best renters insurance company in the U.S., we looked at several factors.

Discounts

Discounts help to make renters insurance affordable.

So if you found an insurer that best suits your need but has a high premium, you should look into how many discounts the insurer offers.

Chances are, if you qualify for many discounts, a high premium will be more favorable in terms of cost.

Coverage

Every renter has different insurance coverage needs. So, when evaluating insurers, we looked for companies with a wide range of useful coverage options.

Technology

We only considered an insurer if it had a useful and easy-to-use website and mobile app where you could do a number of things—get a policy online, file a claim online, pay your bills on a mobile app, and much more.

The most important thing we looked at is whether a company allowed you to get a quote on its website instantly and then purchase a policy in a short amount of time, such as ten to fifteen minutes. Doing so makes getting insured easy.

If a company allowed you to get a quote online but made you speak to an agent to finalize it, then the process is time-consuming, and we tried to avoid such an insurer.

Customer Reviews

We reviewed published consumer ratings and reviews of renters insurance providers.

We spent a good amount of time looking at verified third-party reviews.

Insurers with a good number of quality consumer ratings and reviews were included in our list.

For example, we looked at A.M. Best to determine an insurer's financial strength, the NAIC to see how many complaints an insurer received, and JD Power’s customer satisfaction score to determine how well-received an insurer is.

Price

Insurance providers that had low premiums or had plenty of options to lower your premium (such as discounts), ranked higher on our list than others.

In particular, we favored Allstate, State Farm, and Lemonade because all three had policies lower than the average rate of renters insurance.

What Does Renters Insurance Cover?

The standard renters insurance policy covers liability, theft, medical treatment, and loss of use. It is the same standard policy that is offered by other insurers in the state.

Here’s the standard coverage:

Do You Need Renters Insurance by Law?

There is no federal law that requires tenants to carry renters insurance.

However, some landlords may require proof of renters insurance as part of the lease agreement.

What’s the Difference Between Homeowners Insurance and Renters Insurance?

Homeowners insurance is designed for homeowners, and it covers both the structure of their home and the contents within.

Renters insurance is purchased by tenants, and it covers damage due to theft of their personal property, but no damage to the building itself.

Landlords have their own insurance to pay for damage to their apartment buildings.

Why Do You Need Renters Insurance?

If your personal property was stolen due to a burglary or damaged due to a covered peril like a fire, you would have to replace your items on your own or out of pocket if you didn’t have renters insurance.

Renters insurance is relatively cheap, and it is the only way—and the most affordable way—you can get coverage for your personal belongings.

How Much Insurance Do You Need?

If you don’t have many things to insure and believe you don’t need the added expense of a renters policy, look around your rental and do a personal inventory that includes itemizing each possession and ascertaining its price.

You can use the internet to research the cost of each item if you can’t recall it. Once you factor in the price, the total is how much insurance you would need if you had to replace everything after a fire or a burglary.

The things you use the most are not taken into consideration because you don’t think they are valuable.

But they most likely are, as all the followings that you use daily counts: your sofa or other pieces of furniture, your laptop, and your smart TV, for example.

They don’t have to be high-cost jewelry or musical instruments or designer bags and clothing, although these too are covered by renters insurance.

The one thing you need to beware of is that if you have these expensive items, you will most likely have to buy additional coverage for them in the form of add-ons because the basic renters insurance only covers up to the policy’s limit.

The standard limit for personal property coverage in a basic renters insurance policy is usually $30,000 per claim.

So, if your diamond necklace is appraised at $35,000, you have to suck it up and pay the extra $5,000 if the jewelry is stolen or damaged.

Any damaged or stolen belongings that exceed your personal property limit will not be covered, leaving you to pay the difference for replacements.

But consider the coverage amount allowances. If a renters insurer puts a cap on how much additional coverage you may want to buy, maybe that’s not the company you want to go with.

And if a rental insurer has no personal property limit, which means you can add as much coverage as you desire, that’s a company worth looking into.

So, you’ll want to increase your personal property limit so it’s close to or greater than the value of your belongings.

Or, to make sure that your jewelry is insured to its full value, you can add a rider or endorsement to your policy that comes with an additional expense.

A rider or endorsement adds more benefits to your basic renters insurance policy.

How Much is Renters Insurance?

The best renters insurance companies combine many coverage options and dependable customer service.

They also should have affordable policies.

The average cost of renters insurance for American families in the U.S. is $16 per month or $192 per year.

What Natural Disasters are Covered in a Renters Policy?

Tornadoes, fires, hail, storms, heavy rain, and snow are covered perils.

However, because natural disasters impact your premium, you won’t be paying less than $20 per month. That rate doesn’t include flood insurance, which tends to be expensive to purchase.

What are Natural Disasters Not Covered in a Renters Policy?

Like homeowner’s insurance, the basic renters policy does not include coverage for floods or earth movement such as earthquakes and sinkholes.

Are There Other Factors That Determine Your Premium?

The premium you pay differs from another policyholder. Each person will get a different quote due to certain factors.

Besides living in a city with a high crime rate that’s also susceptible to a large number of natural disasters, the additional factors that determine your premium are as follows.

Credit Score

Your credit score can negatively impact your premium.

People who have a high credit score generally pay less.

And those with poor credit scores will pay more.

That’s because the insurer believes that those who have good credit are statistically more likely to pay their monthly premium on time.

Whether You Choose an Actual Cash Value or a Replacement Cost Value Plan

With ACV, insurers pay only for the depreciated value of your items if they are stolen or damaged.

With RCV, insurers pay the total cost of your items at today’s prices.

For example, if your laptop is four years old and gets destroyed, damaged, or stolen, you’ll be reimbursed for the total cost using today’s prices.

RCV, which often doesn’t come standard in a basic policy, will raise your rate.

Claims History

If you've ever filed a claim on any of your insurance policies, you are considered a risk and will thus have your premium raised.

Amount of Coverage

Your standard renters policy probably won't provide enough coverage to replace all your items, especially those high in cost like jewelry.

So, you will probably need to buy extra coverage for them through an endorsement to pay them in full if a covered peril damages or destroys them.

Adding coverage to a basic policy will increase your rate. However, taking on the extra costs for enhanced or more comprehensive protection could be worth it.

Since renters insurance isn't mandatory, you can customize your policy according to your needs.

The Size of Your Building or Unit

Insurers usually give lower premiums to people who live in large buildings with many units.

And they often will give you a higher premium if you live in a smaller building with only a few units.

Overall, apartments are less expensive to insure than full houses. Apartments are typically smaller and outfitted with smoke alarms, sprinkler systems, and carbon monoxide detectors.

The limited outdoor space means insurance companies don’t need to insure you for outdoor accidents like slips and falls.

On-site management will also decrease your premium.

Building Construction

If you rent a house, apartment, or condo made of brick or masonry, insurers will charge you less than they would if your rental was constructed using a less stable or less solid material.

Sturdier material is less affected by earthquakes, fires, and other covered perils.

Fire Prevention

If you install fire detection and prevention devices and purchase multiple fire extinguishers, your rental will be considered safe, and your rate will be lowered.

Security Measures

If your apartment or condo is on a high floor, has doormen or front-desk security or security cameras in the lobby, and is located in a gated community, your insurer will reduce your premium.

That’s because it’s perceived that you will be less likely to make a claim due to theft or burglary.

Deductible

Your deductible will also affect your premium. The more you’re willing to cover before your insurance kicks in, the less expensive your premium will be.

How to Get the Cheapest Renters Insurance

The easiest way to get affordable renters insurance is to get quotes from as many insurers as possible.

Then compare the quotes from different companies.

Usually, the best insurers allow you to get an instant quote on the insurer’s website.

But if you can’t and need to complete your application by speaking to a live agent, this takes more time than going online.

The less convenient it is to get a quote, the more you’ll turn to other insurers with a good online presence.

Customer Service

The insurance company you pick should be partly based on how easy it is to reach the company’s agent and your experience with one of the agents.

An insurer’s rep or agent should be available 24/7, or at least 24/7 for claims processing.

Thus, you should check to see how convenient it is to reach customer service, especially when rushing to make a claim.

If you can reach an agent in several ways, then you have both choice and convenience.

For example, if you can speak to an agent via phone, text, chat, or by going online, that’s an insurer you may want to work with.

For example, Farmers offer all these ways to connect to an agent. You should thus get a quote from the company.

In addition to availability, you should feel comfortable when speaking to a rep. That means, for example, you should be able to ask as many questions about a policy as you want, and the agent will be professional enough to take the time to answer all of them smoothly and compassionately.

Discounts

All renters insurance companies offer discounts that can lower the cost of your premium. Here are the most popular discounts you can get:

Compare the Best Local Renters Insurance Companies

We've made our recommendations above based on insurers that are widely available throughout the country. But we found some of the best and cheapest home renters were locally-based companies.