Can My Landlord Force Me to Get Renters Insurance?

A couple of months after my husband and I moved into our first apt. together, we were woken one night to the smell of smoke and the alarm going off. We immediately evacuated and were relieved to find that the building down the block was the one on fire. The fire dept. had rung our alarm to alert us to get out. We were students and just started out and didn't think we had much; but when we thought about how much it would cost to replace all of our clothes, what little furniture we had, including a new mattress, bedding, kitchen stuff, books and supplies, we went out and got tenants insurance. I think it was $20/yr. (It was the 70's). We were glad we got that wake up call the easy way.

I had a friend (may she RIP) who convinced her insurance company to pay for her evening cocktail. She was a charmer.

My recommendation is to get your insurance through USAA, if you are eligible. USAA used to be available for military officers, only. However, eligibility has been expanded to include all military personnel as well as retired military, and spouses and children of military personnel. USAA's insurance is cheaper, USAA's coverage is better, and USAA's service is unmatched.

I'm not sure Ms. Kaysen answered the question that was asked, which was "can a co-op board force a sub-tenant (who is not a shareholder, but has a lease with a shareholder) to get renters' insurance?". This really sounds like a legal question (not sure if Ms. Kaysen is a lawyer or not). She instead asked her own question: "Why don't you already have it?" She even quoted someone who sells renters' insurance, who (not surprisingly) recommends it. She writes that the questioner will "probably" have to get renters' insurance anyway, because his sub-lease "likely" includes a provision requiring him to get it . . . but what if it doesn't? The vast majority of her answer extols the virtues of having renters' insurance . . . I don't know . . . I've been a tenant in Manhattan for over 40 years, have never had renters' insurance and have never had a situation where I needed it (maybe just pure luck, but are fires and floods really that common in Manhattan apartment buildings?) I've also never been "required' to have it in any Manhattan building I've lived in, and don't know anyone who has . . . I have a feeling that most shareholders/tenants in Manhattan don't have it . . . If I had a lot of valuable items (antique furniture, paintings, priceless jewelry, etc.), of course I would feel differently . . . but I'm not sure the majority of NYC shareholders/renters have those things . . . I wish Ms. Kaysen's answer focused more on the question that was actually asked . . .

I took out renters insurance for years and never filed a claim. I decided not to take it out one year and, of course, my apartment was broken into and I had no insurance. For a small amount of money take renter's insurance.

People need to sit down and actually LOOK at all the items they own and with pad and pen write down everything and then the price you paid for said items. If the items are two years old or less you should be able to see how much you paid either by looking at bank statements or online credit card statements. Also look for a renters policy that has currant replacement value not the price you paid when you bought the item. Also use you iPhone or other digital camera set up to video EVERY room and every big ticket item. Go slow and cover the entire room. Including window coverings, rugs etc. If possible video the serial number on big ticket items like laptops, iPhone, iPad, big screen tv's. washer and dryer, stove,refrigerator etc. Trust me those $25, $100 dollar items throughout your place add up into the thousands of dollars. And have a written record as well. Then make extra copies of the video and store on a flash drives. Give one to a trusted friend or relative who lives in another state, town etc. And if you have a safety deposit box keep a copy in there.

Many people think they don't own anything of value. As an experiment, a few years ago I did a complete home inventory of everything from old tee shirts to new books, rickety furniture to towels bought on sale. It added up to an astonishing $50K. If I were wiped out by some catastrophe, (not even considering payments to neighbors or living expenses elsewhere), I would have been close to bankrupt at having to replace things. Remember, your old Stuff can only be replaced at current value.

Renters insurance is DIRT cheap-- nothing like homeowner's insurance. My annual premium is something like $170 or $14/month. If you live in Manhattan, you can surely afford that! It also covers the contents of my car, even if the car is not parked near my home-- so if someone steals my bike on the rack or my laptop from inside, it's covered. Also, if someone else's stuff is stolen from the apartment, it's covered. So act like a grownup and just get some, okay. Buying insurance doesn't cause wrinkles or make your hair turn gray overnight.

Skipping renters insurance is like walking up to a blackjack table and expecting every deal to hand you 21. Good luck with that.

My own feeling is that the poorer you are the more you need insurance. If you can not afford, or do not want to pay for a loss, you need renters or homeowners insurance. Also, shopping for insurance should include learning enough about various types of policies to find one that is a good fit, not just the cheapest. I am not affiliated with the insurance industry, and don't particularly like the way many aspects of insurance are managed, but I do read and make sure I understand my policies, asking questions and making notes if there is I do not understand.

I have interviewed hundreds of renters who lost their homes to wildfire. Only one had renters insurance, at the insistence of their landlord six months before the fire.

People don't buy renters insurance because often they can barely afford rent and utilities. Insurance or food? I bet most people pick food.

Here in Austin, all of the corporate run apartment management companies require renter's insurance. $12 a month pays off. When my boyfriend's $3,000 specialty mountain bike was stolen, we got nearly all the money back, save for the deductible. Well worth it

This is something for younger people, perhaps students, to consider. If you are a dependent of your parents, their homeowners insurance might very well cover the child's appartment. When my son moved to Los Angeles, I called my homeowners insurance company, USAA, for a renter's policy. I was told that there was no need for that even though we live in Alabama and he was in California. Our homeowners insurance would cover his apartment. I bought a separate renter's insurance policy anyway because the landlord wanted his tenants to have renter's insurance. Sometimes it easier to satify the beast than it to explain things. I think that it cost $15 a month back in 2006.

You can sign up easily and with peace of mind using the Lemonade app. They are an innovative insurance company that is based in NYC and offers a truly different business model. $5/month gets solid rental coverage. I am not affiliated in any way, just a happy customer for three years since they launched.

As a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, and being retired after 30 years in insurance compliance, which included composing renter's policies for several difference insurance groups, I'd like to add three comments that I have not yet seen in the comments I read. 1. Most people have never heard of the term "subrogation". If another renter's property is damaged because of your negligence, that renter's insurance may pay the renter, but that insurer may seek to recover its loss from YOU, whether or not you are insured for liability. So, subrogation may be a renter's greatest risk in a multi-story building. If your negligence results in a fire, and it spreads to multiple units, you may be responsible for the damage to the building, the damage to other tenants' possessions, the loss of rents of those units by the landlord, and the the tenants living elsewhere while the units are repaired. Yep: all your responsibility (subject to the policy, State insurance laws, and case law). 2. Several comments dealt with water damage from above. That is not flood. However, it is accidental discharge of water, which is generally a covered peril. So renter's insurance should cover that. But again, you may be subrogated against by the other renters' insurance company. 3. If you have a claim made against you, and can't settle it, it may also affect your credit rating. Again, dependent on State laws.

My rental apartment was flooded from above while I was out of town last Christmas. Very little damage to my personal property, but the unit was uninhabitable. Insurance paid to clean, pack, and move my stuff. And then put my family in a hotel of my choosing for 4 months while waiting for repairs. They were there for me on my worst day.

When an insurer demands value assessments on every item of value, it renders getting a policy all but impossible.

I had renters insurance but since I am a minimalist and the policy had some many exceptions and not recovery at full value, I dropped it. It wasn't worth it.

First get rid of the drain stopper that came with the kitchen sink. When it unintentionally closes the drain while you left the water running its flood time. Instead get a strainer that covers the drain but doesn't close it off.

How about liability insurance? Any benefit to a tenant having that as well?

The coop can require all its leasees to get renters insurance. As a subleasee, you may not be responsible for the costs of renters insurance (check your rental agreement with the unit owner) but the coop can still kick you out by foreclosing on the lease for not complying with the rules. Subleasing is a very tricky business, problems like this arise all the time. The landlord, leasee/subleasor and subleasee all have responsibilities and duties.

I have renters insurance with Allstate. When I had a claim a few years ago -- the only claim in over 40 years -- the independent broker repeatedly refused to take my telephone calls or return messages. I suspect the woman who was answering his telephone was his mother, and the broker was working a day job driving a taxi. Allstate itself referred me back to the invisible broker -- who had inherited my account when the genuine broker who sold me the policy, retired. I haven't been able to get him on the telephone once in the last decade. It's even possible he's dead. Such insurance is worthless if the broker is a con-artist and the insurance company wants to be your adversary. Filing claims and getting paid is not the easy thing you make it seem.

I worked with a man who owned a number of rental units. When I got my first apartment, he encouraged me to get renter’s insurance. He told me one of his tenants had a fire and was lucky to have insurance. He said that everything in the woman’s apartment had to be replaced—even her under garments. When you have to replace everything you own, you’ll be glad to have insurance. And, for the record, rental insurance is inexpensive.

Renter’s insurance is dirt cheap and worth the peace of mind. Get it.

I thought you would want it anyway, in case of theft. Seems logical.

Speaking from experience I am glad I have renter's insurance. I survived an apartment fire with total loss of all my possessions. I was glad to be alive and unharmed. My insurance provided me the ability to purchase what I needed to furnish my new apartment. Insurance is a wise investment.

I have it, though I pay double what your "average" rate is. On the other hand, when there was a 10 apartment-wide bedbug infestation, it didn't cover the several thousand dollar out-of-pocket cost of my preparation for treatment. (The actual treatment was covered by the building.)

My mother's experience shows it is worth the small expense to have renter's insurance. She was a regulated tenant when her building experienced extensive flood damage, and she was uninsured. Yes, the landlord had to do the repairs, but she had to wait while he did them on his own time, with inadequate staffing and minimal level of quality, and it took months, during which she was displaced. Meanwhile neighbors with insurance had flood workers and machines in their apartments the next day, and repairs completed within a few weeks. We found out the hard way that it is not just a matter of who pays for the repair, but how it is done. The article and a comment also mention property damage coverage and payment of alternate housing expenses during displacement as additional benefits. I have those in my co-op owner's policy. So far I have not had to use them, but it is cheap, and insurance is not only about pennies, it is about peace of mind when something stressful happens.

Everyone in a co-op is technically a renter. We rent from the co-op corporation in which we are shareholders. When you buy shares in a co-op, you get the right of occupancy to a unit, but unlike a condo, not direct ownership of any part of the building. Co-ops often prefer to avoid this discussion and call monthly rent payments "carrying charges" or "maintenance" to differentiate themselves from rental buildings. As mentioned, sublets are generally required to abide by all rules of the co-op.

Interesting. I wonder if the same applies to rent-controlled and rent-stabilized buildings. My 100-year-old friend is still paying renters' insurance on an apartment she's lived in for 50-60 years. When the upstairs neighbor leaves the faucet running in the tub and it overflows, my friend is left with a soggy mess that the super cleans up, but it's never replastered and painted. True, she doesn't want the fuss of men in her home, and she doesn't want my help either, but --. There's very little left in her apartment; her late sister was a tosser and liked minimalism. And heaven knows there are no items worth insuring. She insists she needs insurance. Can that really be? It isn't as if she's loaded with money. Of course, now I'll google my answer.