Renters Insurance in NYC: What It Covers, Who Needs It

What Renters Insurance Covers

The New York State Department of Financial Services, which regulates insurers, lists what a renter’s policy typically covers, up to the limits you choose:

• Personal property: electronics, clothes, furniture and other belongings damaged or lost to fire, smoke, theft, vandalism, and water from a burst pipe or similar accident.
• Belongings away from home: a laptop stolen from a car or a cafe may be covered.
• Loss of use: hotel and living costs if a covered event forces you out of the apartment.
• Personal liability: if a guest is injured in your home, or you cause damage, such as an overflowing bath that floods the unit below.
• Medical payments to others injured at your place.

What It Does Not Cover

• Floods and earthquakes. Flood cover is a separate policy, worth asking about for a ground-floor or basement apartment near the water.
• Sewer and drain backups, unless you add that cover.
• Expensive single items above the policy’s limit, such as jewelry, instruments or art, unless you list them.
• Business equipment and stock, beyond a small amount.
• Your roommate’s things. A policy covers the people named on it.
• The building itself. That is the landlord’s policy.

Is It Required

No New York law requires a tenant to carry renters insurance. A lease can, and many do, usually through an insurance rider that names a minimum amount of liability cover and asks for proof before you get keys.

If your lease requires it, send the landlord the certificate your insurer gives you and keep the policy active for the whole term. If your lease is silent, it is your call.

• How to Read a NYC Lease

What It Costs

The Department of Financial Services says a basic policy costs about $300 a year for roughly $50,000 of property protection. That is $300 / 12 = $25 a month. Your price depends on the building, the amount of cover, and the deductible, the part of each claim you pay yourself.

Get two or three quotes for the same cover and deductible so you are comparing like with like.

Replacement Cost or Actual Cash Value

This is the choice that matters most. Replacement cost pays what it costs to buy the item new today. Actual cash value pays what your used item was worth, which for a four-year-old laptop is not much. Replacement cost policies cost a little more and pay out much better.

If You Are Moving Into a Sublet

• The tenant’s policy generally covers the tenant’s belongings and liability, not yours. Ask an insurer for a policy in your own name at the sublet address, even for a few months.
• Ask the tenant whether the lease requires everyone living there to be insured.
• Photograph your things when you move in.

If You Are Leaving and Someone Else Is Moving In

• Tell your insurer before you sublet. Policies differ on whether they keep covering an apartment you are not living in, and on damage caused by a subtenant.
• Ask whether your belongings left in the apartment stay covered, and whether things you take with you are.
• Do not cancel if your lease requires a policy. You are still the tenant.
• Get your landlord’s written approval for the sublet first. An unapproved sublet can cause problems with both the lease and a claim.

• What to Do with Your Stuff When You Sublet
• Sublet Checklist Before You Leave

Before You Buy

1. List what you own and roughly what it would cost to replace. Photos or a video of each room are enough.
2. Pick a property limit that covers that total, and a liability limit that meets your lease.
3. Choose replacement cost.
4. Check the limits on single items and add anything valuable.