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Renters insurance is contents insurance for tenants. It covers your own belongings against events like fire, storm, theft and (in most policies) flood, and it usually includes legal liability cover, which can protect you if you accidentally damage the landlord's property or someone is injured at your home.
Your landlord's insurance covers the building and the landlord's own fixtures and contents. It does not cover your things, and it does not protect you from a claim the landlord or their insurer makes against you. That is the gap renters insurance fills.
By Better Rate Mate Editorial Team ยท Last reviewed
Three policies can be in play in a rented home, and each covers different things. The renter's policy is the only one that protects the renter.
| Item or risk | Renter's contents policy | Landlord's policy | Strata policy (units) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your furniture, clothes, electronics | Yes | No | No |
| Landlord's carpets, blinds, appliances | No | Yes, as landlord contents | Sometimes, as fixtures |
| The building structure | No | Yes, for houses | Yes, for units and common property |
| Damage you accidentally cause to the property | Often, through legal liability | The landlord's insurer may pay, then pursue you | The owners corporation's insurer may pay, then pursue you |
| Injury to a visitor in your home | Usually, through legal liability | Only the owner's liability | Only for common property |
| Temporary accommodation if the home is unliveable | Usually, as a benefit | No | No |
Moneysmart makes the point that even a renter who thinks their belongings are not worth insuring may want contents insurance for the legal liability cover alone. If a fire starts from your heater or a bath overflows into the unit below, the damage is to someone else's property, and their insurer can pay the claim and then seek to recover the cost from the person responsible.
Liability cover under a contents policy responds when you are found legally liable for damage or injury, up to the policy limit. NRMA's home PDS, for example, specifically extends it to damage a tenant causes to the landlord's property, including the home, that has been left for the tenant to use. It does not cover damage you cause deliberately, and it is not a substitute for your obligations under the lease, such as leaving the property in the condition it was let in, less fair wear and tear.
Most renters policies are simply contents policies sold with a renter's needs in mind. Look for these components.
In a share house, each tenant's belongings are generally their own responsibility. A policy covers the people and property its PDS defines, which is usually the policyholder and their family or household, so housemates may each need their own policy. Theft by a housemate or someone you invited in is commonly excluded because there was no forced entry.
Renters move more often than owners, which is when contents are most exposed. Check whether the policy covers items in transit, whether the cover moves with you to the new address from the day you move, and tell your insurer the new address before you move, because the premium is set by postcode.
Start with a sum insured based on replacing everything at today's prices, then compare policies on the same sum insured and excess. Read the Key Facts Sheet for the events covered, check the item limits for anything expensive you own, and decide whether you need portable cover for the laptop, phone or bike you carry every day. The cheapest policy is often cheaper because it pays indemnity value rather than new for old, has low item limits or leaves out flood.
Price replacing everything you own at today's prices, then weigh it against the premium and excess. Many renters also value the legal liability cover, which can respond if you accidentally cause damage to the building or injure someone, a risk the landlord's policy does not cover for you.
Your belongings against listed events such as fire, storm, theft and, in most policies, flood, plus legal liability and usually temporary accommodation. Accidental damage and cover for items away from home are normally optional extras.
The building and the landlord's fixtures, wear and tear, gradual damage, damage caused by your pets, theft without forced entry in many policies, and items above the policy's category limits unless you list them.
No. Landlord insurance covers the building, the landlord's own contents such as carpets and appliances, loss of rent and the landlord's liability. Your belongings need your own contents policy.
It depends on your sum insured, postcode, security, claims history and excess, so an average figure is not a useful guide. Compare quotes on the same sum insured and excess, then compare what each covers.
