costs $108 a year. For this price, you get a wide range of coverage, including property coverage for the possessions you keep in your rental and liability coverage for accidents that happen on the property.

Renters insurance is a smart, affordable way to stay protected while you’re living in a rental property. It’ll give you financial peace of mind for a low price.

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created this comprehensive guide to the ins and outs of Wisconsin

renters insurance.

Read on to learn what it is, how to get it, and how much it’ll cost. Plus, there are tips on how to save money on your policy!

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What is renters insurance?

Renters insurance is a type of insurance policy that offers a range of protections and coverages for those who rent.

Here are the coverages offered by most renters insurance policies:

Property coverage (Coverage C): This coverage pays you the actual cash value (ACV) or replacement cost if your possessions are destroyed or lost due to a covered peril.

Loss of use coverage (Coverage D): This coverage pays for your living expenses—like hotels, food delivery, and transportation—if you are unhoused due to a covered peril.

Personal liability (Coverage E): This coverage pays for court fees, payouts, and legal fees if someone is injured or has another reason to sue while on your property.

Medical payments (Coverage F): This coverage pays for medical expenses after someone is injured on your property.

To calculate how much property coverage you need, you should inventory all your furniture, electronics, jewelry, and art. For your liability coverage, check with your landlord to see if they have any requirements—many landlords require their tenants to have between $300,000 and $500,000 of liability coverage.

What does renters insurance cover?

Renters insurance protects you from every peril named on your lease. These named perils are sudden, unexpected events. Avoidable damages, like those caused by wear and tear or negligence, are never covered.

Some common named perils include:

Fire

Theft

Frozen plumbing

Windstorm

Vandalism

Hail

Lightning

Impact by a vehicle

Falling objects

Explosion

Always know what perils you’re covered for. You don’t want to discover you’re not covered after there’s been an incident.

Key Takeaway Only sudden, unexpected perils named on your lease are covered by renters insurance.

What does renters insurance not cover?

While renters insurance offers a wide array of important coverages, it won’t keep everything in your rental safe. Here are a few things that are not covered by renters insurance:

Work items: If you keep your work computer at home or store your small businesses inventory in the closet, these items won’t be covered. Renters insurance only covers personal possessions.

Your car: Your car will never be covered by renters insurance, even if the incident happens while you’re parked on the property. Only

car insurance

will protect your vehicle.

The rental: Renters insurance is for your belongings—the rental belongs to the landlord. Any damage to the actual property will be covered by your landlord’s insurance.

MORE:

Wisconsin car insurance laws

Is renters insurance required in Wisconsin?

Renters insurance is not legally required in Wisconsin. That said, some landlords will require you to have renters insurance before you can sign a lease.

Even if you’re not required to have renters insurance, it is a wise investment for any renter. It offers a wide range of great coverage at a low price. In Wisconsin, the average renters insurance policy in Wisconsin costs only $108 a year. That’s less than $10 a month and $51 a year lower than the U.S. average.

How to build a Wisconsin renters insurance policy

There are only a few simple steps involved when starting a renters insurance policy.

First, you’ll need to inventory your possessions. This means, for all your furniture, art, electronics, and appliances, taking note of their:

Quantity

Purchase date

Purchase price

Brand number

Serial number (if available)

This will give you a sense of how much property coverage you’ll need.

You should take pictures of all your covered possessions—the photos will be useful if you ever need to file a claim for damage or losses.

Next, you’ll need to choose a personal liability limit. Some landlords have a required limit to live on their property (usually $300,000 to $500,000). If not, you can set any limit you want. The lower the limit, the less financial help you’ll get if you have legal issues related to your rental.

Before you sign-up for a policy, make sure you’re covered for all the perils you’re concerned about. Most Wisconsin renters will want to ensure there’s snowstorm damage included in their policy.

Actual cash value vs. replacement cost

When you're starting your policy, you’ll need to choose between two options: whether you want to be covered for the actual cash value (ACV) or the replacement cost of your possessions.

Actual cash value will cover you for the value of your damaged or lost possession, with depreciation factored in. So, a table you bought five years ago for $100 may now only be worth $50 due to age.

Replacement cost covers you for the total value of replacing your possessions—for the $100 table, you’d get $100 to buy a new one.

While replacement cost offers better coverage, it also costs more!

MORE:

What does actual cash value coverage mean on insurance?

How to find cheap renters and car insurance

Since

renters insurance

is inexpensive to begin with, it isn’t hard to find cheap renters insurance. One great way to lower the cost is to bundle your renters insurance with your car insurance. With bundling discounts of up to 25%, the amount you’d save on your auto insurance could easily pay for the entirety of your renters insurance!

Jerry

is a great way to find bundling deals! Jerry is a licensed brokerage app that helps you compare quotes from insurance companies. One quick sign-up gives you access to dozens of insurance quotes. Just find the one that’s right for you and Jerry does the rest.

“
Jerry
was wonderful! I used it for my auto and renters policies. I trusted it so much that I signed up for my homeowners insurance under Jerry as well. All of the agents are amazingly nice and knowledgeable.” —Mary Y.