California renters insurance

What renters insurance covers

A renters policy - technically form HO-4 - covers you the tenant, not the building. It has four main parts:

• Personal property - furniture, electronics, clothing, and more, against fire, burglary, water and the other named perils (our Best plan adds theft without a break-in), and it follows your belongings even when they are away from home
• Personal liability - if you accidentally injure someone or damage their property, including legal defense costs up to your limit
• Additional living expenses (loss of use) - hotel, restaurant, and extra costs if a covered loss makes your rental uninhabitable
• Medical payments - small, no-fault payments for minor injuries to guests in your unit

Your landlord's policy covers the building and the landlord's liability, not your belongings or your liability. That gap is exactly what renters insurance fills.

The California Department of Insurance sets out the same four-part structure, and its free consumer guide is worth reading alongside this page (CDI, Residential Insurance: Homeowners and Renters).

What renters insurance does not cover

Knowing the exclusions up front prevents surprises at claim time. A standard HO-4 does not cover:

• Flood - excluded on every standard policy; covered separately through the NFIP or a private flood market
• Earthquake - excluded by default in California; added by a separate policy or endorsement
• The building itself and built-in fixtures - those are the landlord's responsibility
• Your car and the property inside it from theft of the vehicle - auto claims go through an auto policy
• A roommate who is not named on your policy - each person generally needs their own

How much coverage do you need?

Three limits do most of the work. Set them deliberately rather than accepting the lowest default.

Personal property

Estimate what it would cost to replace everything you own - walk room by room and add it up. Choose replacement cost over actual cash value where possible so a claim pays what a new item costs today, not the depreciated value of your old one. High-value items like jewelry, cameras, bikes, and instruments have sub-limits, so schedule them separately if they are worth more than the cap.

Personal liability

Liability is cheap to raise and protects your future income if you are sued. Many renters move up from the default to 300,000 or 500,000 dollars, and a personal umbrella can sit on top for more.

Additional living expenses

Make sure loss-of-use is high enough to cover months of California temporary housing if a fire or covered loss displaces you.

How much does renters insurance cost in California?

Renters insurance is usually one of the least expensive policies you can buy - often a modest monthly amount. Your price depends on a handful of factors:

Because carriers price the same renter differently, shopping multiple markets is the simplest way to pay less. We do that for free.

Three simple monthly plans you can bind

You do not have to design a policy from scratch. We sell three ready-to-bind California renters plans - Good, Better and Best - at a flat monthly price, and you can buy any of them online in a few minutes.

All three plans are underwritten by Technology Insurance Company, Inc., an AmTrust Financial company. The carrier is who pays your claim and who sets these prices - we are the broker that places the policy and issues your proof of coverage. Because these are the carrier's own rates, you would not find this same policy cheaper somewhere else. Every plan also carries $1,000 of additional living expense, $500 per person in medical payments to others, $250 for damage to property of others and $10,000 of animal liability.

Do California landlords require renters insurance?

California does not require renters insurance by law, but many landlords require it as a condition of the lease, and that is completely legal. If yours does, you will typically need to name the landlord or property manager as an interested party (also called an additional interested party) so they receive proof of coverage and notice if the policy lapses. We can issue that proof the same day you bind.

Renters in wildfire, flood, and earthquake areas

California's biggest perils are handled differently on a renters policy:

• Fire and smoke - a standard HO-4 covers fire and smoke damage to your belongings, including wildfire, and loss of use if you are evacuated from a covered loss
• Flood - excluded; if you rent near water, a levee, or a post-wildfire burn scar, add a separate contents flood policy
• Earthquake - excluded by default; a renters earthquake policy or endorsement covers your belongings and loss of use after a quake

If you rent in a fire-prone or flood-prone area, ask us how to close those gaps before a loss, not after.

Covered even where home insurance is hard to get

Here is the part most renters in high fire-hazard California do not realize: our renters rate is a flat statewide rate. It does not change with your building's Fire Hazard Severity Zone, its brush exposure, or what it is built of - a renter in a wildfire-prone foothill town pays the same as a renter in a low-risk suburb.

That is possible because a renter insures belongings and liability, not the structure. So even in areas where homeowners coverage has dried up and carriers have pulled back from hard-to-insure homes, renters can almost always still get covered. If your building sits in a high fire-hazard zone, that does not block a renters policy here.

For agents and property managers

We hear from licensed agents who cannot place renters coverage for clients in certain California areas, and from property managers who need every resident insured. If that is you, send them our way - a flat, easy renters option keeps residents covered and buildings protected, and we handle the placement. Reach us through our contact page to set up referrals.

Bundling renters with auto

If you carry car insurance, bundling it with a renters policy usually earns a multi-policy discount that can offset much of the renters premium. It also simplifies billing and gives you one point of contact for claims. We can quote the pair together.

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