8 Best Renters Insurance Companies in Missouri of 2023

If you rent in Missouri, you should consider buying renters insurance.

If your personal property is damaged or destroyed due to, say, a fire in your apartment unit, renters insurance will pay to replace them.

Renters insurance even pays out if you’re found at fault for bodily injuries or property damage to others.

If you didn’t have renters insurance, you’d have to pay out-of-pocket for all of these things.

But most of us wouldn’t be able to cover these losses.

And in MO state, which has a high crime rate and is beleaguered by severe storms, renters insurance will protect you from theft, burglary, and natural disasters.

Finding the renters insurance that best meets your needs involves picking a policy that combines affordability, protective coverage options, and attentive customer service.

But there are some nuances when it comes to selecting a policy, which is where this guide comes in. Below, we've ranked our top-rated renters insurance companies by category and provided more information on how renters insurance works.

Liberty Mutual: Best Renters for Discounts

Liberty Mutual is best known for having enough coverage alone, which means you don’t have to buy additional coverages or endorsements that can cause your rate to rise.

To get the most affordable Liberty Mutual home renters insurance, start with a monthly fee as low as $5. However, if you need coverage that includes things like personal property damage or theft as well as settlement guarantees, then be prepared to pay more than this.

That said, Liberty Mutual offers many discounts that can lower your rate.

Read a full Liberty Mutual home insurance review.

Allstate: Best Renters for Extra Coverage

Allstate offers affordable coverage, a sizable number of discounts, and some very useful coverages.

These coverages are add-ons that you have to purchase and will raise your premium. But taken together, your basic policy just became comprehensive.

Read a full Allstate renters insurance review.

State Farm: Best Renters for Cheap Rates

State Farm, one of the largest insurers in the nation, has excellent customer service and is highly rated by JD Power’s customer satisfaction study. It also receives far fewer complaints than its competitors.

State Farm is great for most people because of its low premium. On average, State Farm’s renters insurance costs only $13 per month or $156 per year.

State Farm beat the national average for renters insurance, which is $19 per month.

However, rates differ based on where you live. In most cases, that’s due to the likelihood of fire, storms, and crime rates.

Read a full State Farm renters insurance review.

Nationwide: Best Renters to Increase Coverage

Purchasing a renters policy in Missouri can be high for some tenants. Overall, Nationwide’s renters insurance costs around $16 per month, which means its pricing is in the middle range.

But rates can differ if you choose to add endorsements; the more extra coverage you have, the higher your rate will be.

But increasing your coverage can be very advantageous for you, and Nationwide has the right endorsements you need to make your basic policy more comprehensive.

Lemonade: Best Renters for Loss of Use

Lemonade is an all-digital insurance company changing how we buy insurance. The standard way is to call an insurance agent to review a renters policy and buy coverage.

Because Lemonade does not use agents to sell its products, you interact directly with its website and app.

It only takes a few minutes to get a quote, and when you buy a renters policy. You do so through the mobile app or website without ever having any interaction with anyone.

Lemonade offers loss of use in its basic policy, as do most renters insurance companies. But like Lemonade’s other basic coverages, the company goes the extra mile to protect you from a covered peril.

Loss of use in a basic policy kicks in when your rental unit or rental home is destroyed or damaged due to, say, a fire. If your home becomes uninhabitable, loss of use pays for your motel or hotel visits and temporarily renting a unit. It also covers meals at restaurants.

Lemonade’s loss of use adds more coverage. If your fridge suddenly dies or you are cooking and your stove catches fire and damages it while the rest of your apartment remains intact, Lemonade will pay for the extra cost of eating out at restaurants until your fridge or stove is repaired replaced.

Read a full Lemonade home insurance review.

USAA: Best Renters for Coverage That Comes Standard

USAA offers the best renters insurance in Missouri. That’s due not only to highly satisfied customers, according to the NAIC, but also because it offers free many premium coverages in its standard policy.

The coverage includes replacement cost coverage, flood insurance, and earthquake insurance.

Each alone can make your premium rise, but there are no renters insurance companies out there that offer earthquake and flood insurance as standard in a basic policy.

Unfortunately, these perks are only available to the active military and retired servicemembers and their families.

Particularly important, earthquake and flood insurance are necessary for Missouri tenants who are associated with the military due to the state’s New Madrid fault line and large rivers.

Amica Mutual: Best Renters for Consumer Experience

With few consumer complaints, an easy-to-use website and mobile app, and many ways to contact customer service, Amica renters insurance is worth considering.

Verified reviews from many sites agree that Amica’s consumer experience is the best overall.

And according to three years’ worth of data from the NAIC, Amica renters insurance had far fewer than the expected number of complaints to state regulators relative to its size.

But what makes Amica’s consumer experience one of the best is their effortless ways to report and track claims.

You can file and track claims on Amica’s website and get an online quote.

If you’re more on the go, you can use Amica’s mobile app to do the same things.

Contacting customer service reps is easy; you can go online and chat with them anytime you want.

Travelers: Best Renters for Protecting Renter Improvements

When you rent, most times, you can’t personalize your rental or make major changes because you aren’t a homeowner.

But some landlords will allow you to give your rental a personal touch.

You can do many things in your rental, including painting rooms, hanging wallpaper, changing fixtures, etc.

This policy is for those who spruce up their rentals.

Travelers' standard policy covers any improvements you've made if your improvements are damaged or destroyed due to a covered peril.

This means you don’t have to pay extra for this coverage.

You get up to 10% of a renters insurance policy's personal property coverage that you can use to repair or replace the improvements you made.

Is Renters Insurance Mandatory to Rent an Apartment in Missouri?

Renters insurance is designed to protect a tenant’s personal belongings if they are damaged or destroyed due to a fire or other unpredictable event, burglary, or theft.

Renters insurance is not required in Missouri, but some landlords may require it as a condition of their lease.

Even if they do not, renters insurance is perhaps the most affordable way to protect your personal belongings.

If a fire destroys most of your possessions and you don’t have a renters policy, you will pay out of pocket to replace the items.

Landlords will have insurance, but in no way does that cover your belongings.

A landlord’s insurance is designed to cover the apartment building itself or the structure of a condo if they get destroyed.

This means you don’t have to worry about building rebuilding because you don’t own your unit.

What is the Average Cost of Renters Insurance in Missouri?

The average cost of renters insurance in the US is $19 per month or $228 a year.

Missouri renters rates are more expensive than the US average, coming in at $22 per month or $260 per year.

Why is Renters Insurance So Expensive in Missouri?

You pay more for coverage in Missouri if you live in a part of the state known for its severe storms or other natural disasters.

You also pay more if you live in an unsafe location.

Missouri has had the highest crime rates in the West North Central region for both violent crime and property crime for three years now. 

Larceny and burglary are by far the most common type of property crime in Missouri.

However, the cheapest renters insurance policy can be found in Jefferson City, Columbia, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, and Liberty.

It’s no surprise that these areas are generally safe.

What Factors Determine Your Premium?

Besides location, the following factors determine your policy rate:

• Claims: If you make just one claim, an insurer will believe you are more likely to make more claims in the future.
• Credit Score: You’ll pay less if you have a high credit score because the insurer believes you are more likely to pay your monthly premium on time.
• Fire Detection and Prevention: If you add fire alarms, smoke alarms, and fire extinguishers to your rental, your rate will be lower.
• Security Measures: If your apartment or condo has doormen or front-desk security or is in a gated community, your rental will also cost less to insure.

How Can You Lower Rental Insurance Premiums?

Discounts

When you sign up for coverage, you can go over with your agent if there are any discounts you can qualify for that can reduce the cost of your premium.

Increase Your Deductible

If you increase your deductible, your premium rates will be lowered.

For example, increasing a deductible from $250 to $500 can trigger annual savings of up to 15%.

Claims

If you never make a claim with your insurer for a set time determined by the company, you’ll get a discount.

How Do You Find Affordable Renters Insurance?

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

Then compare the rates from different companies.

Many companies will allow you to get a quote online. Work with those, as contacting an agent to get the quote is more arduous.

Remember that your rates will vary depending on your coverage limits and the valuation of your belongings.

You also need to consider customer service satisfaction.

A good customer service experience includes how easy it is to reach an insurer’s agent.

Some insurers can be reached in multiple ways, including websites, mobile apps, phones, online chat, and email.

As such, this allows you to choose a method of communication that is most convenient for you.

Bonus points for an insurer with round-the-clock hours, especially when it comes to making claims.

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 other insurers offer in the state.

Here’s the standard coverage in detail:

Liability Coverage

Liability protects you against lawsuits from someone who has bodily injuries or property damages that you or your family caused to the person. Liability also covers your legal defense.

Loss of Use

If your rental becomes uninhabitable due to a covered peril like a fire, this policy will cover your basic living expenses (clothes, meals at restaurants, health and hygiene products, etc.) and temporary housing.

Medical Payments

This policy pays for medical care if there is bodily injury to a person that occurs in your rental housing, regardless of fault.

Personal Property Coverage

This coverage pays to replace stolen or damaged property due to a covered peril.

A covered peril in a standard policy is theft, burglary, vandalism, and natural disasters such as lightning, windstorms, hurricanes, and other events listed in your policy.

Optional Renters Insurance Coverage

In addition to the basic renters policy, you can usually pay a little extra to customize your policy with these necessary add-ons or endorsements that add more coverage.

Actual Cash Value (ACV) vs. Replacement Cost Value (RCV)

There are two types of renters insurance policies, RCV and ACV.

If your belongings are stolen or destroyed, a standard renters policy pays to replace your belongings based on their actual cash value.

For example, if your ruined couch is seven years old, your claim reimbursement would probably not allow you to buy a new one and you may have to shop for a second-hand or used couch.

But with RCV, you’ll get the cost of replacing your lost items with new ones.

Scheduled Personal Property

Tenants with a renters policy to protect their high-cost possessions often have one thing in common: those pricey belongings are not covered in full by standard renters insurance.

Renters insurance typically caps the amount it will pay for valuable items such as jewelry, firearms, and electronics.

To get coverage for items that are worth more than this limit, you can add a scheduled personal property endorsement.

Scheduling means you list your valuables separately on your policy and insure them for their actual value.

The benefit to scheduling expensive items is that you are covered for anything that could happen to them.

Make sure you get your belongings appraised, as most insurers require it.

Here are the items that are often covered only up to a specific amount and may need to be scheduled.

• Electronics
• Furs
• Jewelry and watches
• Silverware, goldware, and pewterware
• Firearms
• Items used for business purposes
• Money, gold, and coins
• Watercraft and trailers

Identity Theft Coverage

If your identity was stolen, this coverage will reimburse you for false charges on your credit card, monitor your credit, pay for any legal fees, and help replace confidential documents.

Water Backup Coverage

If your sink, toilet, or other drain backs up and sends water gushing into your dwelling, this coverage will pay for damages.

What Natural Disasters Occur in Missouri?

Missouri’s most common natural disasters include severe storms, floods, severe winter weather, tornadoes, and earthquakes.

Luckily, most natural disasters in Missouri are covered by renters insurance.

This means policyholders don’t have to purchase additional insurance to protect their personal property.

The most recurring national disaster in Missouri is severe storms.

Severe storms and lightning are powerful enough to cause considerable damage to any property.

Missouri ranks among the top ten US states when it comes to lightning-related deaths.

The second most recurring national disaster is flooding. Missouri is at risk of flooding due to its proximity to the Missouri River.

However, renters insurance never covers floods (as well as earthquakes) no matter what state you are in.

You’ll have to purchase flood insurance if you want protection.

How Much Renters Insurance Do You Need?

To determine how much coverage you should purchase, take stock of your belongings to decide on how much personal property coverage to buy.

This is called a home inventory.

A home inventory is helpful if you ever need to file a claim. Your insurer will know precisely what needs to be replaced, and your claims process will go more smoothly.

Once you catalog your possessions, price them out. You're all set if you know how much each thing costs or if you have receipts.

But if you can’t recall how much something costs, use a roundabout figure or scan the internet to find your belongings or similar items.

Our Methodology

We thoroughly researched the state's top renters’ insurance companies and narrowed the list down to those that operated in Missouri.

We rated them on criteria that included ease of use, ratings, financial strength, customer, and affordability.

How We Ranked and Picked the Best Renters Insurance Companies in Missouri

We used five criteria to choose the companies we included on this list.

Discounts

Companies that offered a lot of discounts to lower your premium were put high on our list.

Coverage

Coverage options are essential for renters who want to protect themselves and their property, so we looked for companies with available endorsements and add-ons.

Technology

We looked at companies with useful and resourceful websites and mobile apps that could replace speaking to a live agent.

If the site and the app allowed you to file or make a claim, and if they allowed you to do all your insurance business entirely online, then that’s a company we considered.

Customer Reviews

We looked at third-party rating sites like AM Best, the NAIC, the BBB, and JD Power to see how an insurer ranked and performed.

Price

Renters insurance, in general, is usually on the cheap side. But it can be costly in Missouri, so we prioritized companies with more affordable rates compared to the state average when possible.