How Does Bundling Renters and Car Insurance Work?

Buying insurance can be time-consuming and expensive, particularly if you don’t understand how to save money by taking advantage of discounts.

Since most adults also own a car, it makes sense to find a way to save money on both renters insurance and car insurance since each can affect your monthly budget and reduce the amount of discretionary income you have to spend.

While there are many types of potential discounts that can help you save on insurance, bundling is a discount that almost every insurance company offers because it benefits them as well as their policyholders.

In this article, we’ll explain how bundling renters and car insurance works, with information about benefits, tips to get the best deal possible, and an overview of bundling discounts from some of the best-known and most popular insurance companies.

What is Insurance Policy Bundling?

Insurance policy bundling is the process of buying two or more policies from a single insurance company with the promise of a discount in return for your business.

Many of us have insurance policies with multiple carriers; for example, you might have your car insurance with GEICO, your renters insurance with Liberty Mutual, and a life insurance policy with Prudential.

Each carrier would prefer for consumers to have all their insurance policies in one place since it means more business for them.

The result is that most carriers offer bundling discounts to help policyholders save money if they put multiple policies with the same carrier.

Car insurance is commonly bundled because it is the second most common type of insurance for people to have, behind health insurance.

Many companies that offer renters insurance also provide auto insurance, and will offer a discount that may range from 2% to 10% or more to entice policyholders to bundle with them.

Examples of Policy Bundling

Let’s look at a hypothetical situation where policy bundling could save somebody money.

John is a renter who owns a relatively new car; he pays $150 per month for car insurance with Company A, which is higher than average because of the value of his car and the fact that he’s had a couple of speeding tickets.

He has his renters insurance with Company B, paying $15 monthly for a basic policy covering $15,000 worth of belongings.

He receives an offer from Carrier A to move his renters insurance to them, in return for which he will receive a 10% discount on his car insurance, saving about $15 per month or $180 per year.

The result is that John will essentially be getting his renters insurance for free simply because he bundled his renters insurance with car insurance.

How Much Money Can You Save with Policy Bundling?

The biggest benefit of bundling your auto insurance with renters insurance is that you will save money.

One of the most common complaints that people have about buying insurance is that they spend money on something they may not ever need.

You may recognize that insurance is necessary, but it can still strain your budget and make it challenging to find the money for other things.

Most insurance companies that offer a bundling discount offer between 2% and 10% off your premium in return for policy bundling.

The average cost of car insurance in the United States is $106 per month for full coverage, totaling $1,270 per year.

With bundling, you could save between $40 and $200 on your auto insurance, creating some breathing room in your budget.

What Are the Other Benefits of Bundling Renters Insurance and Car Insurance?

Beyond cost, there are other benefits of bundling your renters insurance with car insurance.

You’ll Save Time

One benefit of policy bundling is that you can save time by dealing with only one insurance company instead of two.

If you switch your renters insurance to the same company as your auto insurance, you may be able to renew both policies at the same time with the same representative.

You may also be able to minimize the time you spend asking questions, since you won’t have to double up on the basics by asking more than one company.

While it might not take a ton of time to renew an insurance policy, it’s undeniably easier to kill two birds with one stone than it is to throw multiple stones.

You’ll Reduce Your Paperwork

Insurance and paperwork go together like the proverbial horse and carriage, and keeping track of printed policies and bills can really be a hassle.

With policy bundling, you may have the opportunity to consolidate and minimize your paperwork by dealing with only one company.

You may be able to pay with a single invoice each month, and receive policies and other paperwork all at the same time.

You’ll also have an easy time keeping track of your paperwork and what to do when there’s a claim, since all your coverage will be with the same company.

You May Have a Single Deductible Option

One of the most significant potential benefits of bundling your renters insurance with car insurance is that some companies offer a single deductible option.

A single deductible option kicks in when you need to submit a claim on your renters insurance and auto insurance for the same event.

An example would be if you had a full coverage auto insurance policy and were in a collision that also damaged some of your personal belongings in the trunk; as a reminder, car insurance doesn’t protect your personal possessions but they are protected by renters insurance whether they’re in your apartment or not.

If you bundle your policies with a company that offered a single deductible option, you would only pay one deductible instead of two when you filed your claims.

How to Take Advantage of Policy Bundling

Here are some pointers to help you take advantage of policy bundling by getting the best deal possible.

• Talk to your current insurance carriers. If you want to see how much money you can save with policy bundling, the first place to start is with your current insurance carriers. If you already have renters and auto insurance, approach each carrier and ask what they can offer in terms of a bundling discount.
• Obtain quotes.Next, you’ll want to get quotes from at least three companies to see what’s available. You may or may not decide to include quotes from your current insurance carriers depending on how they responded to your inquiries.
• Compare costs and discounts. After you receive quotes, you should compare the costs and discounts from each to see which option gives you the best deal. Make sure to use comparable coverage options for your analysis. For example, choose the same policy limits, the same riders, and so on.
• Choose a company. Once your analysis has revealed the best deal, pick an insurance company and let them know that you want to move forward.
• Purchase policies. The final step is to purchase and sign your policies to put your new coverage in place.

As you can see, the process is quite simple; all you need to do is a little basic legwork to request quotes and save money.

When Is Bundling Insurance Not a Good Idea?

While bundling your renters insurance and car insurance is a good idea for many people, it may not always be the right choice.

One example of when bundling might not serve you well is if you have a low-priced car insurance policy with a company that doesn’t offer renters insurance and switching your car insurance would result in a significantly higher premium.

On a related note, you might have a long history with one company and get a substantial loyalty discount; if you would lose that discount with bundling, switching might not be worthwhile.

Another circumstance of a situation where bundling would not be useful is if you had to trade in a policy with robust coverage for one with lower quality coverage.

Finally, it might not make sense to bundle if the company in question requires you to buy additional coverage to qualify for bundling.

For example, Travelers Insurance offers a bundling discount to people who have four or more policies with them, and in that case, you wouldn’t be able to bundle two policies.

Comparison of Insurance Company Bundling Discounts

Here’s a quick rundown of insurance companies’ bundling discounts to give you an idea of what to expect.

State Farm

State Farm has one of the most generous bundling discounts of all the companies we have reviewed.

If you bundle your auto insurance with renters insurance, you’ll get a 10% discount; discounts may be as high as 15% if you bundle auto insurance with homeowners insurance.

Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual allows policyholders to bundle auto insurance with homeowners insurance, renters insurance, or condo insurance.

Instead of providing a percentage, they say that homeowners can save up to $947 with policy bundling; expect the amount to be lower with renters insurance, which costs significantly less than homeowners insurance.

Allstate

Allstate claims its bundling discounts may go as high as 25%, but getting to that amount is usually only possible if homeowners insurance is in the bundle.

You should expect to get about a 5% discount on your auto insurance if you bundle it with renters insurance.

Farmers

Farmers Insurance says their policyholders can save up to 20% with policy bundling, but here again, the highest discounts go to people who bundle auto insurance with homeowners insurance.

With renters insurance, you can probably expect a lower discount of about 5%.

GEICO

GEICO offers a policy bundling discount if you bundle homeowners, renters, or condo insurance with auto insurance.

GEICO offers a flat 3% discount for bundled policies, which makes it easy to predict what you’ll get when you request a quote.

Can You Bundle Renters Insurance with Other Policies?

Our focus here has been on bundling renters insurance with car insurance, but you may be wondering if it’s possible to bundle renters insurance with other types of coverage.

The answer is yes; while renters and auto insurance are one of the most common bundling options, you can get bundling discounts by pairing your renters insurance with another type of policy, including the following.

• Life insurance
• Pet insurance
• Motorcycle insurance
• Boat insurance

If you have a type of insurance that hasn’t been mentioned, we still recommend approaching your insurance company to ask if bundling is an option.

Tips for Choosing the Best Bundle

Bundling can often be a good choice, but it’s important to evaluate your options before you move your policies to a single carrier.

Here are four areas that may vary from company to company.

Pricing

Pricing is often the primary concern when it comes to buying insurance, so it stands to reason that comparing costs is a necessary first step before you bundle.

It’s important to look at monthly and total costs and keep in mind that costs may be different if you’re not making an apples-to-apples comparison between coverages and terms.

Policy Terms

You’ll need to make sure you understand the policy terms of each bundling option to be confident that you’re getting the coverage you need.

Some of the things to consider are excluded circumstances; for example, your renters insurance policy won’t cover damage caused by an earthquake, landslide, or pest infestation.

With auto insurance, common exclusions include acts of god (weather related damage) or coverage for mechanical failures.

You’ll also need to keep your deductible in mind, since your prices will be higher if you choose a low deductible and vice versa.

Coverage

You have control over the coverage you choose to some extent, and you should try to compare like coverage to understand whether a lower price is saving you money.

With renters insurance, you’ll be able to choose between actual cash value and replacement value coverage for your belongings.

You may also have a choice of policy limits and other coverage options, including scheduled valuables, water backup coverage, pet damage coverage, and identity theft protection.

With auto insurance, some popular add-ons include collision coverage, rental car reimbursement, gap coverage, and new car replacement coverage.

Keep in mind that each add-on you choose will increase the cost of your policy, so you’ll need to factor these costs in when comparing your coverage.

Single Deductible

Finally, you’ll want to look at whether each insurance company provides a single deductible option to help you save money.

As a reminder, a single deductible option means that if you need to file a claim under both policies, you will only need to pay one deductible.

While you might think it’s unlikely that you’ll need to file two claims at once, the possibility does exist if you have belongings in your car that are covered under your renters insurance.

You’ll need to weigh the likelihood of using the single deductible option against other factors to choose the bundling package that’s right for you.

Is Bundling Renters and Car Insurance Really Worth It?

Even after reading what we’ve included here, you may wonder if bundling auto and renters insurance is worthwhile.

The honest response is that it may be worthwhile, but it depends on your circumstances and what your most important priorities are.

If you can get coverage that’s on par with what you have currently for a lower price, then it’s almost certainly worth taking the leap and bundling your policies.

However, if you can’t get comparable coverage or have a great deal on your auto insurance from a company that doesn’t offer renters insurance, your best bet may be to stay where you are.

Remember that you can always revisit the option of bundling coverage at a later date, even if it doesn’t make sense to bundle now.

As always, we recommend comparing bundled quotes from at least three insurance companies to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible.