Get the protection you need for your rental property
Your stuff — the landlord’s policy covers the building.
Renters insurance is built around personal property: furniture, electronics, clothing, and kitchenware. The building itself is the landlord’s or association’s problem. Limits should reflect what it would cost to replace what is in the unit, not what you paid years ago.
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The base renters policy is the printed form. An endorsement is a taped-on change — adding coverage, taking it away, or renaming who is insured. Optional coverages ride along with the policy. Separate policies sit beside it.
Form names and availability vary by carrier. This is a map of add-ons we commonly shop in Illinois — not a promise that every company offers every item.
Base policy
Renters policy
Hover an add-on to read it, then click to pin it here — a review list for your next conversation with an advisor.
Send this list to an advisor →We’ll open the contact form for this coverage so an advisor can help you decide which add-ons belong on the policy.
Interactive diagrams and coverage guidance for Illinois renters.
When you rent or lease, your landlord's insurance usually only protects the building itself—not your personal belongings. A renters policy is built around personal property, liability, and additional living expenses (loss of use) if a covered peril makes the apartment unlivable.
You might think that your landlord's insurance covers your personal possessions. However, that only covers the building itself. Renters insurance is the only way to protect your valuables, and it is much more cost-effective than you'd think.
There are two parts to renters insurance. The first is property coverage for damage or loss from certain unexpected events. Be sure to check your renters insurance coverage details–there will usually be both an overall limit on the payout and a maximum amount for any one renters insurance claim. Here are a few examples of what can be covered in a renters policy:
Fire
Theft
Lightning
Wind/Hail
Another way some renters policies protect you is through liability coverage. For instance, if you accidentally damage the rental property itself or if somebody is injured while visiting you at your apartment, your insurance would cover it.
You may also get a payment for living expenses if the rental property is uninhabitable after one of the events the renters insurance policy covers. This safety net can help you recover from such a loss that you would otherwise have to pay for out-of-pocket.
There are a few things that are not included. For example, if you park a vehicle on the rental property itself, your car usually will not be covered by renters insurance.
Whether you rent a home or a studio apartment, you cannot afford to not have renters insurance. In fact, it is extremely cost-effective. We'd be happy to walk you through the options to ensure you have the insurance coverage and protection you need.
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The same renters policy add-ons from the explorer above, listed out. Form names and availability vary by carrier.
Endorsement
Shows the landlord on evidence of insurance when the lease asks.
Leases often require proof of renters insurance and that the landlord be listed. Listing them as additional interest is not the same as adding them as an additional insured on liability. We match the certificate to the clause instead of guessing.
Endorsement
A buyback Illinois renters sometimes add, with a separate deductible.
Earthquake is typically excluded and added by endorsement or a companion form, with a percentage deductible. The New Madrid conversation is more relevant downstate, but some Chicagoland renters still ask. It is not a substitute for sewer backup or flood.
Separate policy
Contents flood is not on a standard renters form.
If you keep belongings in a basement apartment near a creek or in a mapped zone, flood contents coverage is a separate policy. The landlord’s building flood policy, if any, does not replace your sofa. Sewer backup is still a different endorsement.
Learn more →Endorsement
Limited restoration expenses after a documented identity event.
Apartment living does not reduce mail theft or device theft. An identity theft endorsement on a renters policy is a small expense cover, not a credit-monitoring subscription. Worth a look if you already itemize bikes and electronics.
Endorsement
Limited coverage when you work from the rental.
Clients in the unit, product inventory, or a photography studio can trigger a business exclusion on a renters form. An incidental business endorsement may restore a slice of property and liability. A separate businessowners policy is the next step if the activity is more than incidental.
Endorsement
Raises the limit if a fire makes the apartment unlivable.
Loss of use pays for a hotel or extra rent while the unit is repaired after a covered peril. The default percentage of contents may be thin in Chicago-area hotel markets. An increased ALE endorsement, or simply a higher contents limit, can keep that from running out mid-stay.
Separate policy
Extra liability if someone is hurt in the unit or you cause a serious auto claim.
Renters still have liability — a guest injured in the apartment, or a dog-bite claim. Umbrella sits over renters and auto. It is a separate policy, useful once there are assets or a household driver with a long commute.
Learn more →Endorsement
Pays to replace belongings at today’s price, not depreciated value.
Many renters forms start at actual cash value on personal property. A replacement cost endorsement can pay what it costs to replace a laptop or sofa now, minus the deductible — not what a five-year-old item would sell for used. That is the difference after an apartment fire.
Endorsement
Lists bikes, jewelry, cameras, or instruments by item.
Unscheduled renters contents have sublimits on jewelry, bikes, and electronics. Scheduling an item can raise the limit and, on some forms, cover more causes of loss. Bring serial numbers and appraisals. This is the same idea as a homeowners jewelry schedule, just on an HO-4.
Endorsement
Drain backup into a garden apartment or unit.
Garden-level and first-floor rentals in older Chicagoland buildings take on water from drains, not just from the sky. A sewer backup endorsement is often available on renters forms, with a modest limit. Flood and sewer backup are still different perils.
Learn more →Endorsement
Liability and property for water-filled furniture where required.
Some leases still ask about waterbeds. Carriers that write the exposure usually do it by endorsement. It is a narrow form. If the lease forbids it, the endorsement does not rewrite the lease.
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