Autumn and Kassie have renters insurance in Maryland, and they sent in today’s question because they want to make sure that they have the coverage their apartments require. They also want to make sure they’re both covered for their own protection.
Can roommates share renters insurance?
Autumn and Kassie, who have renters insurance in Towson, MD for their college apartment, wrote with today’s question. They’re required to have renters insurance, and they want to know if there’s a way to share a renters insurance policy:
Can roommates share renters insurance? I’m in college so money is tight, but my landlord requires renters insurance. Is one policy enough, or should each of us have our own? Is there a way we can all share?
Autumn and Kassie, that’s a great question! First, let’s assume that one of you has your own renters insurance policy, not just an endorsement on your parents’ homeowners insurance.
While our recommendation is to not share a renters insurance policy with non-family members for reasons we’ll touch on shortly, the answer is yes. You often can share a renters insurance policy with your roommate. However, there is a caveat, which is that everyone on the policy must also be listed on the lease. If you’re subletting or crashing on your friend’s couch, you can’t share her renters insurance policy. You’re not technically an actual resident there, so you can’t share the policy and would need your own.
Everyone living in the household must be listed in some way on the policy
Who should be listed on a renters insurance policy? All adults living in the household who are not related must be listed in some way, and it can be prudent to list certain relatives as well. Some property management companies insist on seeing every adult in the household listed on the declarations page, even if the policy document itself defines that as being unnecessary.
Can roommates share renters insurance?
Can roommates share renters insuance?
If your roommate is not related to you, you will need to get her onto your policy – otherwise, she has no coverage. Roommates sharing a renters insurance policy is commonly put into practice with an endorsement that extends coverage to someone who is not the named insured.
The downside of roommates sharing renters insurance is that the coverage limits don’t change just because someone is endorsed onto the policy. In other words, if you have $15,000 of personal property coverage on your renters insurance and you share the policy with your roommate, you still only have $15,000 of coverage between you. If you add a roommate to a renters insurance policy, you may want to consider increasing your coverage limits for that very reason.
What if one of your roommates moves out?
Will you remember to remove her from your policy? If there’s a claim and the claim check comes with both of your names on it, will you be able to deposit that check or will you have to deal with the hassle of finding the old roommate and explaining to her why she should sign a check that she won’t get any money from? That’s rarely a pleasant conversation to have, even when you’re still living together. The longer it’s been since you lived together, the harder it gets – you could have difficulty even finding the person at all!
If you still want to list your roommate on your policy to save a few bucks a year, instead of purchasing separate policies, please remember that they must be listed in some way on the policy. All adults living in the household who are not related must be listed in order for there to be any coverage.
The good news
Whether you decide to share a policy with your roommate, or if you decide to get your own, we can help get you the coverage for mere pennies a day! Effective Coverage works with many apartment communities, such as Fairways At Towson, that cater to college students and others with roommates. Extensive experience allows us to make the process easy and simple for you. We can answer any questions you have, such as can college students get renters insurance? Just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need 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.