What If You Don’t Want Renters Insurance In Queens?

If you don’t want renters insurance in Queens, you might be in for a bit of a surprise.  New York being New York, there are often only limited changes that a landlord may force on you at lease renewal.  But requiring Queens Renters Insurance is one of them, and it’s something that’s quite common.  In fact, even in smaller walk-ups, there are now more units in Queens that do mandate renters insurance as part of their lease than units that don’t!

Find out why, and what to do if you don’t want renters insurance in Queens below!

I Live In Queens And I Don’t Want Renters Insurance! Can My Landlord Require It?

Putting aside whether or not you should have renters insurance in Queens, there are actually two parts to that question.  The first question is whether or not your landlord can require renters insurance at your lease renewal, and the second is whether or not your apartment is desirable enough that he could find someone who will abide by the lease terms to live in it.

Let’s face it, just about anywhere in any of the boroughs there’s stiff competition for apartments.  That means your unit is desirable (whether or not you like it) and that the landlord would have no problem finding someone else to rent it.  Probably in a matter of a few minutes, as a matter of fact.  So the only question remaining is whether or not your landlord can require renters insurance in Queens.

The answer to that is an unequivocal yes.  Your landlord can actually require a wide variety of things in your lease, and if you’re up for renewal you have the choice to sign the renewal lease, negotiate the terms, or leave.  Since you won’t want to leave in this housing market, and you’re not likely to negotiate the terms of a standard lease that your landlord uses, you’re pretty much stuck with those terms and your landlord certainly can make renters insurance part of them.

Why Is My Landlord Requiring Renters Insurance In Queens If I Don’t Want It?

Your landlord probably was told to require the coverage by one of two people. Either his lawyer or his insurance agent.  With multiple units, it may be that he gets a small discount if he requires that tenants have liability insurance, or it may be because your negligence is less likely to result in a suit against him if you have liability insurance.  Either way, your landlord doesn’t care whether or not you insure your personal property.

Renters insurance is a package policy, so you’re likely to have at least some coverage for your personal property.  But what the landlord is actually requiring is that you maintain financial responsibility so that others can be made whole if you cause a loss.  That means that, even if you don’t want renters insurance, you’ll be required to have it.  If you were to leave something on the stove and start a fire, that would impact the landlord as well as other tenants.  Your liability coverage can kick in to make them whole.  If you were to fail at your responsibility to shovel snow, as may be detailed in your lease, and someone fell, the liability coverage on your policy can kick in as well.  There are a wide variety of scenarios, but all result in good reasons for landlords to require coverage even if you don’t want renters insurance.

If you live in subsidized housing, your landlord may not be able to require renters insurance, but that’s one of the very few exceptions and specific to your individual situation.  Note that rent control does not necessarily bring the same restrictions.  There are no landlord-tenant laws being violated by your landlord requiring renters insurance in the vast majority of situations, even if you don’t want it.

If I Don’t Want Renters Insurance, What Will The Minimum Required Coverage Cost Me?

That can vary somewhat.  

The national average price of renters insurance is just $187.00, according to the III. That works out to as little as fifteen dollars per month.  The vast majority of families can budget renters insurance easily at those prices.  

Additionally, it's important to note that renters are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing loss than homeowners.  Renters occupy roughly one third of total housing stock in the country, and yet they are fully fifty percent more likely to experience theft than homeowners, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

It only costs a few dollars a month to protect your family, and this cheap renters insurance is a great way to mitigate the additional risks that come with being a renter.

The good news is, however, that you live in one of the least expensive places to buy a policy.  Renters insurance in Queens often trends much lower than the national average, perhaps as low as $125 for the year.  The only way to find out is to reach out to Effective Coverage and ask for cheap renters insurance that meets your landlords requirements.

I Don’t Want Renters Insurance And I Don’t Have $100,000 Of Stuff, Why Is My Landlord Asking For That Much Coverage?

As above, your landlord cares not one bit whether or not you properly insure your personal property.  What your landlord cares about is liability, and they’re requiring $100,000, $300,000, and even $500,000 of liability coverage in many apartments in Queens.  That’s not coverage for your stuff, that’s coverage for bodily injury or property damage that you do to someone else or the apartment as a result of your negligence.

Most policies come with $15,000 of coverage for your personal property.  You can increase that number if you need to, and you can also add coverage for items like jewelry on your Queens Renters Insurance.

Look at it this way: Your landlord requires you to have the coverage, even if you don’t want renters insurance.  Since you have to have the policy anyway, you might as well make sure that your stuff is protected as well.  You’d be rather mad if you had less personal property coverage than you need and there was a loss if you had just gotten a policy to make your landlord happy.

Remember that coverage is generally at replacement cost, so you need to add up what it would cost you to go to the store and buy everything in your apartment new.  Many people make the mistake of determining coverage based on the actual cash value of their stuff, but most policies give replacement cost so you can get new items of like kind and quality.  Your couch might only be worth $50 on Craigslist, but it would cost you several hundred dollars or more to buy a new one of like kind and quality at retail, and that’s the value you should use when determining how much personal property coverage you need on renters insurance.

To find out more about why your land lord requires liability coverage in Queens, even if you don’t want renters insurance, or to get cheap renters insurance that meets the requirements, or to get the coverage you deserve, just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Queens renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!

Effective Coverage offers the nation's only completely mobile platform to quote and purchase renters insurance right from your phone or tablet in just one minute. Get an online renters insurance quote today and protect your family.

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