Do you need renters insurance? A cheap policy covering your belongings and, more importantly, your liability as a tenant.
A landlord's policy covers the building. It covers none of your possessions and none of your liability, which is what renters insurance is for. It typically pays for your belongings against theft, fire and water damage, pays your liability if somebody is hurt in the unit or if you flood the apartment below, and pays for somewhere to live while the unit is uninhabitable.
It is the cheapest insurance most people ever buy, commonly a few hundred dollars a year, because the building is not part of the risk. Landlords increasingly require it in the lease and require being named as an interested party, which just means they are told if the policy lapses.
Two details are worth reading rather than assuming: whether the contents cover is replacement cost or actual cash value, which is the difference between a new laptop and a five-year-old one, and whether floods and earthquakes are excluded, which they usually are and are sold separately.
A worked example
A policy at about $15 a month covers $20,000 of belongings and $100,000 of liability. The kitchen fire that ruins the unit is the landlord's insurance; the ruined furniture, the hotel while it is repaired and the neighbour's water-damaged ceiling are yours.
Questions people ask
Can a landlord require renters insurance?
Yes, in most states, as a term of the lease, and many now do. They can also require being named as an interested party, which only means they are notified if the policy lapses.
Does renters insurance cover flooding?
Not usually. Flood is excluded from standard policies and sold separately, as is earthquake. Water from a burst pipe inside the building is normally covered; water that rises from outside is not.