Almost seven million people in the Golden State rent their homes. In fact, California renters outnumber the total population of Los Angeles by a 2:1 margin. From the Oregon-California state line to the Imperial Beach coastline, Effective Coverage is passionate about protecting tenants. If you have questions about California renters insurance, Effective Coverage has answers.
- It’s easy to get renters insurance in California. Click above and you can be covered in 60 seconds.
- Even if you don’t own much, renters insurance pays to replace your property with new property if something happens.
- Liability Coverage pays to defend against lawsuits that could be filed against you for damages deemed your fault. It also pays for the damage.
- Effective Coverage insurance experts can help you get the right coverage, whether you live in Sacramento, San Diego, or anywhere in between.
- Your policy will also pay for a hotel after a covered loss, should your apartment be damaged past the point of being able to live there.
Is California Renters Insurance Easy?
Of course! It’s available to anyone who rents in California. From Fresno to Los Angeles to Sacramento, a California renters insurance policy helps you to live without worry; and with 592,670 personal property thefts every year, it’s important to know that you’re covered.
Los Angeles is the largest city in California, but it’s certainly not the only large city. San Diego attracts many students from all over the world, while San Jose attracts tech workers. San Francisco is one of the hardest places in America to find an apartment since Silicon Valley established itself as the tech hub of the world with companies like Google and Facebook. Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, and Oakland are all popular places to live due to their climate, and projections predict that Oakland will be a hot-spot in the near future.
From Bakersfield to Anaheim, Santa Ana to Riverside, Effective Coverage insurance experts are available to give you the coverage you deserve. New construction homes in Riverside and Stockton need coverage just as much as historic apartments in Chula Vista or Irvine. No matter where you live in California, you need to be protected.
California Renters Insurance Guide Table Of Contents
- Effective Coverage Supports Renters Across California
- I Don't Own Anything, Do I Still Need Renters Insurance In California?
- Do I Need Liability Coverage On California Renters Insurance If I Have Nothing To Lose?
- Does California Renters Insurance Make Me Safer?
- How Do I Know What Coverage I Need On California Renters Insurance?
- Where Do I Go After An Apartment Fire?
- Whose Fault Is The Fire?
- California Renters Insurance Fast Facts
- Renting In California
Effective Coverage Supports Renters Across California
As the premier provider of California renters insurance, Effective Coverage is dedicated to offering the best coverage at the best price. Nationally, only forty-four percent of renters are covered. This leaves half the population exposed to risks of fire, theft, and vandalism. You need more than just a policy, you need coverage that’s customized to your needs and free of unnecessary upsells.
That’s why Effective Coverage offers consultations with insurance experts to help you determine the most appropriate level of coverage. Do you need to protect against identity fraud? That’s outside the scope of the standard policy form, but an endorsement is available. Are there high-value items such as jewelry that you want to protect? Your insurance expert can discuss both endorsements and separate policies based on the value of the items.
Effective Coverage has streamlined the process of getting covered, too. A phone call takes just minutes, and many people prefer to speak with an insurance expert on the phone and go over the coverage that’s available. Some people just want to be covered right now, and that’s easy too. Effective Coverage offers the only mobile platform for California renters insurance that lets you get covered in sixty seconds from your phone or tablet.
California is a diverse state, and Californians have diverse insurance needs. Effective Coverage was built from the ground up to offer options that help you understand and meet those needs with affordable policies. We’ve made it so easy that you can get instant proof of coverage sent to your landlord today. Whether you prefer to work online or over the phone, the insurance experts at Effective Coverage can help you to get covered and get on with your life.
I Don't Own Anything, Do I Still Need Renters Insurance In California?
People often don’t consider the value of what they have, but those who don’t own much personal property often aren’t in a position to replace it. These are the people who are most at risk. A fire, a theft, or another covered peril could take everything you have, including the roof over your head, in an instant. If you can’t afford to replace it all, you need to insure it.
People commonly undervalue their property, as well. Your couch came from a thrift store and is twenty years old, so it’s worth about five bucks on an insurance claim, right? Wrong. Renters insurance in California comes with personal property replacement cost coverage. The policy would pay you enough money to purchase a new couch if that one suffered a covered loss.
Perhaps you own nothing but a bed and your clothing. You’d be in a bad situation after a rusty pipe burst, drenching everything in dirty water. Renters insurance in California covers many risks you probably haven’t even considered. After the broken pipe, or after a fire, where would you stay? Hotels in California are expensive, and often booked solid. Renters insurance loss of use pays for those additional living expenses when you can’t use your apartment after a covered loss.
Back To TopDo I Need Liability Coverage On California Renters Insurance If I Have Nothing To Lose?
Did you turn away from the stove for just a brief moment, only to come back to a grease fire? It only takes one misplaced candle to cause irreparable damage, and if you cause bodily injury or property damage to someone else, you’re responsible for their costs as well. In any of these scenarios, you won’t be saved by California’s use of comparative negligence. That’s because these are all considered to be your fault.
Can someone sue for damage caused by your negligence if there’s nothing to take? Yes. The United States is a notoriously litigious society, so protecting yourself from a potential lawsuit is imperative.
California renters insurance liability coverage is designed to prevent that from happening. First, the policy will pay to defend you against the claim of damage or injury. Maybe it truly wasn’t your fault. Maybe the claim involves an unrelated loss. Maybe the claim is for far too much money. The insurance company defends you because most people couldn’t afford a lawyer out of pocket. By making sure you have one, the company doesn’t have to pay false or frivolous claims that turned into default judgments.
If you are found to be responsible for the loss, your liability coverage will protect you. The defense costs don’t take away from the policy limits, so that $100,000 or more is still available to pay those claims. Renters insurance solves common problems that most people are completely unable to handle alone. That’s the very reason for its existence, and on a monthly basis, it usually costs less than a take-out pizza!
Back To TopDoes California Renters Insurance Make Me Safer?
The bottom line is that renters insurance makes you safer. Families with renters insurance are far more likely to safely escape a fire because they know they can just get out and let the insurance worry about replacing their property. Property is worth risking your life for, but people without renters insurance are more likely to pause and grab property on the way out of a fire.
People do unexpected things in moments of crisis. Robert Wright of Fresno was awake late one night and noticed that his neighbor’s apartment was on fire. He got his family out of the building calmly, and only afterward began to panic.
Wright’s panic wasn’t over a forgotten family member or pet. He had been cooking a rack of ribs for himself when he noticed the fire, and was worried about them burning. After his kids were safe, Wright ran back into the burning building to rescue his ribs. He was kind enough to give a local news station an interview. Fortunately, Wright was not injured. His only complaint was minor smoke inhalation, and in the interview he said he had already had smoke in his lungs before the fire.
Back To TopHow Do I Know What Coverage I Need On California Renters Insurance?
You can get renters insurance in California with $15,000 of personal property coverage. If you’re just one college student living alone, that might be enough. Have you accounted for books and electronics? If you’re living with other people, or if you don’t live like a college student anymore, that’s probably not the coverage you need.
But how can you tell how much coverage is right for you?
Just add up the retail price of everything you own. You’ll want to use the retail price because the policy offers replacement cost. In addition, go ahead and add 25% or 50% to the total to account for everything you forgot about. You should already have a list of your property, as well as pictures. We recommend storing these files in an online resource like an iCloud or Google Drive so that a fire doesn’t take the list from you as well.
Here are some examples of common household items that you’d need to replace out-of-pocket if you didn’t have insurance.
- Basic Fabric Couch $549
- Uncomfortable chair for uncomfortable guests $129
- TV stand and storage $549
- Bed $250
- Mattress and Box Spring $1,000
- Dresser $200
- Jeans/Dress Pants $40 a pair, minimum $200 total
- T-shirts $25, 5 of them $125
- Hats, Shoes, Purses, Etc. $200+
- iPad $929
- Duplicate College Degrees, ID, Etc. $200 minimum
- Kitchenware Box Set $75
- Pots and Pans Box Set $99
- Miscellaneous consumables $200
That’s thousands of dollars of things you can’t replace, and that’s just the big stuff! As you can see, California renters insurance limits should be considered carefully, especially if you have multiple roommates on a renters insurance policy.
It’s a good idea to increase your liability coverage as well. Most landlords require $100,000 of coverage, but adding more is not expensive. For just a few dollars a year, you can get $300,000 or $500,000 of liability coverage on your California renters insurance. This helps to protect you in the event someone sues you so that you don’t have to pay on that loss for the rest of your life.
Back To TopWhere Do I Go After An Apartment Fire?
An apartment fire can be devastating. Even if the fire is someone else’s fault, you’ll still have smoke and water damage. It will still be days or weeks before the building is cleared to live in again. Where do you go in the interim? How do you pay for it?
Loss of use coverage on California renters insurance pays for your additional living expenses. That could be a hotel, but it could also be meals that you have to eat out because you can’t cook in the hotel. When your life is torn apart, there are many small expenses that add up. Your policy helps to protect you from them.
Back To TopWhose Fault Is The Fire?
California renters insurance also includes vital coverage for liability. If you were at fault for the fire and left a candle unattended, you’re responsible for it. Other tenants and their insurance companies are going to look to your insurance, your assets, and your future earnings, in that order.
Do you really want to give half your paycheck to the other residents of the building for the next fifty years because you didn’t have California renters insurance liability coverage? Most would answer “No.” The cost of paying for the loss is far higher than the fifteen bucks a month or so that your policy costs.
To protect your future, your property, and yourself, just call Effective Coverage. You’ll get an insurance expert who can walk you through the coverage and the peace of mind that you deserve. You can start a policy today, and even get instant proof of coverage for your landlord.
Back To TopCalifornia Renters Insurance Fast Facts
- The average price of a California renters insurance policy is just $195.00 per year according to the Effective Coverage system. That’s just pennies a day.
- The average home value in California is almost half a million dollars. No wonder why so many people rent.
- There are 151,000 thefts of personal property from vehicles in California every year
- California renters insurance is affordable, and your credit isn’t a part of the pricing. That saves many people money.
Renting In California
Did you know that the median rent in Los Angeles is $2,614? It’s expensive to make rent in California, and budgets are often stretched. But consider that if you’re already stretched, one small loss could throw the rest of your life into disarray. This is why it is important to set aside a few dollars a month for renters insurance.
That small loss could cost you thousands of dollars in electronics or software. Did you know that there are 151,852 thefts of personal property from vehicles every year in California? That’s about one every three minutes! But did you know that California renters insurance also covers personal property stolen from your car?
You might know that California has strong landlord-tenant protections. That’s good for you, of course. In some cities, the landlord has to let you move back into a damaged building after repairs are complete, even if that’s years later. But where are you going to stay in the meantime? California renters insurance gives you temporary options through loss of use coverage, and you can plan your next move from there. You might even have property like furniture and electronics to move into the new apartment because the policy will give you the cash value for the property you lost.
More and more property managers are requiring that their tenants maintain California renters insurance. Often, they want to be listed as an additional interested party on the policy. This just lets them know if the policy status changes. Effective Coverage can help you with instant proof of coverage and even send it to your landlord on your behalf.
In more competitive cities like San Francisco, you may be one of many people standing in line vying for the same apartment. You want to look like the best tenant possible. People who already have renters insurance in California look like less-risky tenants. But even if you’re renting from an apartment community in Los Angeles or Fresno, it’s still hard to find an apartment in California. Once you find it, you’ll want to protect your home and make sure that you have the ability to stay somewhere else if you can’t use the apartment
Renters insurance helps you ensure that protection is available. It’s easy to get covered, too. Call or click, get covered in seconds, and then focus on the rest of your day. Just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need California 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.