Does Renters Insurance Cover Roommates? (2024)

FAQs

Does Renters Insurance Cover Roommates? ›

Unless your roommate's name is listed on your policy, they won't be covered under your renters insurance.

Does each roommate need renters insurance? Does renters insurance cover all roommates? Your renters insurance generally won't cover your roommates' things unless they're related to you or their names are listed on your policy. Unrelated roommates should generally buy their own renters insurance.

Renters insurance covers personal property, personal liability, medical payments and additional living expenses or loss of use, up to the limits of your policy.

No. If your roommate has renters insurance, she has insurance for her—not you. While some insurers do offer one policy for multiple roommates, this isn't a good idea. You would have to specifically add them to the policy.

If you're already insured, your next question may be if it's possible to add your roommate to your existing policy. Some insurance companies—including Lemonade! —only allow you to add additional people to your policy if you're related to the particular person (meaning they're your brother, mother, spouse, or so on).

Damage Caused by Floods, Earthquakes and Sinkholes

Flooding, earthquakes and sinkholes are all examples of natural disasters that are not covered by a typical renters insurance policy.

There are also some exceptions, such as if the theft was perpetrated by a roommate, in which case your stolen property will not be covered. Typically, you have to pay a deductible (amount of expenses out of pocket) before you can file a theft claim and have your insurance kick in.

Renters insurance has three basic coverage components: personal possessions, liability, and additional living expenses.

Renters Insurance is designed to replace your personal property in the event of a covered loss subject to a deductible. There is no savings feature that would provide for any type of loan. The policy will provide cash for additional living expenses if you must leave your apartment due to a covered loss.

Personal property coverage covers your possessions—including electronics, clothing, and furniture—in case of loss or damage. Your possessions may be covered even if you're away from home when the loss occurs.

Should all roommates get separate renters insurance? ›

Does each roommate need renters insurance? Many insurance companies will require roommates to have their own separate renters insurance policy rather than allowing roommates to be on a policy together. If your landlord doesn't mandate renters insurance, you and your roommates aren't required to carry a policy.

Can significant others share renters insurance? Most states allow two unrelated people to share a renters insurance policy if they live in the same rental home. Many renters insurance companies allow policy sharing as well.

You can often add a roommate to your renters insurance, but in most cases, you're better off with separate policies. Some companies do not allow non-related roommates to share a policy.

Lemonade is an affordable insurance provider partially because it does not maintain a network of in-person locations like some of its competitors. It also uses largely AI-based underwriting processes, which can lead to savings on operations on staffing costs.

Which company offers the cheapest renters insurance? According to our research, State Farm and Toggle tend to offer the cheapest renters insurance policies at $10.50 and $12.59 per month, which is about 20% less the national average.

Pros and Cons of Lemonade Home Insurance

The Lemonade app with its AI technology allows for fast claims processing, but it does require users to submit a video when filing a claim, which may be a downside for homeowners who'd prefer not to submit a video of themselves.

Your household insurance policy (aka, your renters or homeowners policy) covers losses suffered by everyone living in your home and related to you by marriage, blood, or adoption. That means your children, husband, wife, partner, parents, etc. … you get it.

Your renters policy won't cover roommates who aren't family. Your roommates would need their own policy to protect their stuff.

Whether you live on or off base, in a house, apartment, duplex or townhome, renters insurance, (minus the deductible) typically: Covers the cost of repairing or replacing your personal belongings, or provides you with the cash value of each item lost or destroyed (Reimbursem*nt varies with different policies.

If both cars are kept at the same address overnight, you can share a policy, even if you drive different vehicles or don't share a last name. Adding a roommate to your auto insurance will raise the cost of your individual policy, but it could be lower than the combined cost of two separate policies.