Renters Insurance Coverage Explained

What is Renters Insurance?

Just like an auto policy protects your vehicle, renters insurance takes care of protecting your belongings and personal liability. Even though your landlord has insurance on the building, it most likely doesn’t cover your personal belongings. That’s where ERIE can help.

The best part? Renters insurance is really affordable. You may even qualify for a discount if you already have an auto policy with ERIE. In some cases, the discount actually offsets the price of the renters insurance policy.^¹

How to Get Renters Insurance

Here are six things to consider when you’re ready to purchase a renters insurance policy:

Estimate how much your belongings are worth. Many times, we underestimate the value of our belongings. Making an itemized list can help determine the amount of insurance you need.
Make sure you have replacement cost loss settlement. Replacement cost reimburses you for the original value of the item (or one of similar kind and quality at today’s cost if the item is no longer available). If you don’t have replacement cost in your policy, then depreciation factors in. For example, if you bought a new laptop five years ago for $1,000, you’d only be reimbursed for the laptop’s worth in today’s dollars minus depreciation. So if it’s only worth $500 today, that’s what you’d get. (Not available in NC.)
Consider earthquakes and other disasters. Depending on where you live, talk to your ERIE agent about extra coverages you can purchase for your renters policy.
Choose a deductible. When you think about your deductible, think about a couple questions: “How much premium savings do I want from choosing a higher deductible?” and “How much could I afford to pay out of pocket if I experience a covered loss?” This will help you determine what deductible is right for you and your living situation.
Think about extra protection for any valuables. ERIE offers coverage^⁶ for theft of certain types of property. If you own expensive items like jewelry, firearms, furs or silverware, you will probably want to add an endorsement to your renters insurance policy to make sure they’re fully covered.
Pick a liability limit. There are many ways that you could accidentally hurt someone. For example, if your dog bites another animal or person, you will be held responsible. This type of lawsuit can get costly if the injured person has any long-lasting physical scars or impairments. (If you are concerned about having enough liability protection, consider an umbrella policy.

Finally, remember that no matter where or what you’re renting, your ERIE agent is always there to help you get the right coverage for your needs and budget.

How Much is Renters Insurance?

According to National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ data, the average renters policy costs only $184 per year. That works out to slightly more than $15 per month for liability coverage ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 (depending on location) with a deductible between $500 and $1,000.

Here are some other key points to consider when assessing the cost of renters insurance. Of course, there are a lot of variables and you should check with an ERIE agent to see what best fits your needs.

Types of Renters Insurance

Insuring your belongings is a smart decision because your building’s insurance policy doesn’t cover them.

An ErieSecure Tenant® Policy for renters can help keep your property safe. It includes coverage for^²:

Worldwide Personal Property

This protects your possessions even if they’re damaged, lost or stolen when away from home, whether the location in question is an exotic locale or a friend’s place across town.

Loss of Use

This coverage kicks in to take care of additional living expenses, like the cost to stay at a hotel, should you have to relocate temporarily while your building or place is being repaired after a covered loss.

Personal Injury Liability Protection

This protects against things like slander, discrimination, cyberbullying and more (see policy for details).

Medical Payments

This coverage can help if someone is hurt in an accident at your home.^³

CUSTOMIZE YOUR RENTERS COVERAGE WITH OPTIONAL EXTRAS

With lots of extra options to choose from, your ERIE agent can help you customize your renters insurance.

Here are a few ways you can personalize your protection by adding coverages that won’t break the bank.

An Add-on Bundle

Sewer and Drain Backup Coverage

Home Sharing

Earthquake

Flood

North Carolina Options

In NC, ask your agent about further customizing your renters insurance policy^⁵ with available extra features like:

Limited Water Backup and Sump Discharge or Overflow Coverage: This covers damage to your property caused by backups through sewers, drains and sump pumps.
Identity Recovery Coverage: If someone steals your identity or you become a victim of fraud, help is just a phone call away.
Scheduled Personal Property: This covers stuff like sporting equipment, jewelry or collectibles.

¹

Discounts subject to eligibility criteria and rates and rules in effect at the time of purchase. For additional information, visit erieinsurance.com or talk to your local ERIE Agent. Individual policies may differ.
²

Sub-limits, differing from policy limits, may apply to these coverages.
³

Medical payments for someone other than the insured, resident of the household or tenant. Medical payment limits differ from liability limits and are typically $1,000 or $5,000.
⁴

ERIE’s earthquake endorsement can be purchased with a percentage deductible of the amount of insurance.
⁵

ERIE offers a Homeowners 00 04 Contents Broad Form Policy. Sub-limits, differing from policy limits, may apply to these coverages.
⁶

Certain limits apply