Best Renters Insurance in New York City
With a New York renters insurance policy, you can have peace of mind that your insurance provider will cover damages to your rental unit, personal belongings, or neighbor if an accident occurs.
The This Old House Reviews Team put together a review of the best renters insurance companies in New York and a buying guide to help you find the right policy for your home. Read our review to learn how to get affordable and comprehensive coverage, and use the tool below to get multiple quotes from providers in your area.
4 Best Renters Insurance Companies in New York City
We scoured the renters insurance market and picked the following three providers as the best in New York City based on coverage, cost, customer service, and more.
- Lemonade: Easiest Sign-Up
- Liberty Mutual: Most Experience
- USAA: Best Membership Perks
- Farmers: Most Customizable Coverage
Lemonade
- J.D. Power Rating: 853/1000
- AM Best Rating*: NR
Lemonade renters insurance is ideal for renters who want affordable coverage and an easy, fast sign-up process. The company also stands out for its quick claims process where policyholders can get paid in as little as three minutes when filing a claim through the app. To top it off, Lemonade is known for its charitable give-back program in which it donates all unused claims money to charity every year.
Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual offers some of the cheapest renters insurance out of the providers in this review. A Liberty Mutual policy can cost as low as $5 per month, and gives you personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments to others coverage.
USAA
USAA is best for current or former military members and their families who are looking for affordable renters insurance. While Liberty Mutual is cheaper than USAA, a USAA policy isn’t far behind with liability, medical payments, and personal property coverage starting at $10 per month.
Farmers
Farmers renters insurance offers the best deductible with seven options—$100, $100 for theft and $250 for everything else, $250, $500, $1,000, or $2,500. Few insurance companies give you that many options, allow you to go that low, or let you change deductibles based on the covered loss.
New York City Renters Insurance Coverage
Most policies for a New York City residence will include four types of coverage:
- Personal property—This protects the personal belongings in your apartment. If burst pipes cause water damage or a fire burns your items, your policy will pay to replace these items.
- Loss of use—If an event damages your home and you need to temporarily live elsewhere during repairs, your policy will pay for those additional living expenses.
- Liability—A renters insurance policy pays for claims if you’re liable for bodily injury to someone or damage their belongings. This part of your policy is usually required by your landlord so that they aren’t held liable for these incidents.
- Medical payments to others—If a guest is injured while in your home, your policy will cover their medical expenses to get treatment.
Note: Most providers offer additional coverage options called endorsements to extend your coverage. Examples of these include protection for identity theft, earthquakes, and scheduled personal property.
How Much Does a Renters Insurance Policy Cost in New York City?
In 2019, the average cost of renters insurance in New York was about $185 per year and $15.40 per month, according to the latest report released by the Insurance Information Institute. Relative to other U.S. states, New York tends to have more expensive renters insurance.
Factors to Consider Before Buying Renters Insurance
Before you buy renters insurance, consider these factors:
- Liability coverage—Because New York City is densely packed, any damage you cause to your apartment could affect the apartments around you, making it likely that you face liability claims from your neighbors.
- Climate—New York’s cold winters can cause issues in your home from the weight of snow or from frozen pipes. Confirm that your renters insurance covers these types of incidents so that you don’t have to pay to repair or replace your belongings.
- Pets—Most companies include pets in liability coverage, but if you have a dog with a history of aggression, you may not be covered. If that’s the case, look into endorsements to ensure any damage or injuries your pet causes will be covered by your renters insurance company.
- Home inventory—Personal property coverage will only cover the replacement amount you choose, so purchase enough coverage to protect all of your belongings. To do this, take inventory of the belongings in your home, estimate their value, and add up those amounts. You can also use an online estimation tool from insurance companies like Geico and Allstate.
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Compare Renters Insurance Coverage Options
If you’re not sure which New York renters insurance policy is best for you, compare the providers below.
Compare Renters Insurance Companies
| Companies | Liberty Mutual | USAA | Farmers |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Types of coverage |
Personal property, loss of use, liability, medical payments to others |
Personal property, liability, medical payments to others |
Personal property, loss of use, liability, medical payments to others |
|
Personal property coverage limits |
$15,000, $20,000, or $25,000 |
$25,000–$750,000 |
No limit |
|
Liability coverage limits |
$100,000, $200,000, $300,000, $500,000, or $1,000,000 |
$100,000, $300,000, $500,000, or $1,000,000 |
$100,000, $200,000, $300,000, or $500,000 |
|
ACV or RCV |
ACV or RCV |
RCV |
ACV |
|
Monthly price |
As low as $5 |
As low as $10 |
About $30 |
|
Discounts available |
5 |
3 |
3 |
|
Unique add-ons |
Blanket jewelry |
Computer and tablet |
Identity theft protection |
|
Customer service |
24/7 for claims; limited for sales and service |
24/7 for claims; limited for sales and service |
24/7 for claims; limited for customer service |
|
BBB rating |
A+ |
A- |
A+ |
Our Conclusion
Lemonade, Liberty Mutual, USAA, and Farmers offer the best renters insurance in New York City. With any of these providers, you’ll get comprehensive coverage at an affordable insurance rate to accommodate the high cost of living in the city. Before choosing a company, consider getting renters insurance quotes from all three providers to compare policy coverage and costs:
Frequently Asked Questions About Renters Insurance in New York City
How quickly can I get New York renters insurance?
Most renters insurance companies have an online quote tool that allows you to get a quote and purchase a policy instantly.
Can your landlord force you to get renters insurance?
Yes. Renters insurance isn’t required by law, but a landlord can make you get renters insurance to live in their building. The insurance your landlord has only covers the building, so they may want you to get liability insurance so that they don’t have to pay for liability claims.
Can my renters insurance claim be denied?
As long as the property that was damaged is covered and the event that caused the damage is covered, your claim will be approved. Read the fine print concerning limitations before you purchase a policy.
Our Rating Methodology
The This Old House Reviews Team is committed to providing comprehensive and unbiased reviews to our readers. This means earning your trust through transparency and having the data to back up our ratings and recommendations.
With that in mind, we created an objective rating system to score each home insurance company. Here’s what that review process looked like:
- We analyze the information on each company’s website. This allows us to determine what products and services are offered by each home insurance provider.
- We get a sample quote from the companies by either talking to a sales representative or by using the online quote tool. This tells us what a policy looks like and costs.
- We test customer service by talking to a company representative, finding out their hours of operation, and determining what technological features are available for customers.
- We update all of this information on a continuous basis, storing it in a proprietary database that allows us to compare dozens of home insurance companies against each other.
With this data, we created a rating methodology to score each home insurance company. Our rating system is a weighted, 100-point scale based on the following factors:
- Coverage (30): We rated home insurance companies higher if they offered the six main types of homeowner protection—dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments to others coverage.
- State availability (7.5): Companies scored higher if they covered more states than their competitors.
- Customer service (15): This factor is based on our communications with the company representatives, as well as the companies’ claims and quotes processes, availability throughout the week, and customer service information found on their websites.
- Technology (12.5): Technology can increase the efficiency of filing and tracking home insurance claims. Companies scored higher if they had technology options like mobile apps and online chat functions.
- Reputation (20): We gauged trustworthiness based on years of experience and Better Business Bureau ratings.
- Additional benefits (15): Companies that offered optional features, like discounts and endorsements, scored higher than competitors that didn’t.
The This Old House Reviews Team has a full-time researcher who collects and regularly updates data points from every company to help us compare them on key factors such as coverage, service, and dependability.
To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.
*AM Best ratings accurate as of August 2023
