How to file a renters insurance claim, step by step

Steps to file a renters insurance claim

1. Make sure everyone is safe, and stop more damage if you can: turn off water, cover a broken window.
2. For a theft or break-in, call the police and get the report number. Insurers usually require it.
3. Tell your landlord, in writing, about any damage to the unit.
4. Call your insurer or start the claim in their app. Write down the claim number and the adjuster's name.
5. Take photos and video of the damage before anything is cleaned up or thrown away.
6. Make a list of everything that was lost or damaged, with what it would cost to replace.
7. Send the list and your proof to the adjuster, then keep copies of everything you send.

You don't need the full list on day one. Report the loss first, then build the list over the following days. Our home inventory checklist goes room by room and has a free template you can fill in. If a fire took most of what you owned, our guide to making a home inventory list after a fire shows how to rebuild the list from photos, order history and bank statements.

Does the landlord's insurance cover my things?

Almost never. A landlord's policy covers the building and the landlord's own property, such as appliances they supplied. Your furniture, clothes, electronics and everything else you brought in are yours to insure.

If the loss was someone else's fault, such as a leak from the unit upstairs or a landlord who ignored a repair, your own insurer still pays your claim. It may then go after the other side to get its money back. You don't have to sort out who is to blame before you're paid.

What a renters claim usually pays

Renters policies pay for belongings up to your personal property limit, less your deductible. A small theft might look like this:

Check your policy to see which kind you have. Replacement cost pays what it costs to buy the item new today, usually once you have replaced it. Actual cash value takes off an amount for age and wear.

Proving what you owned

Renters often have fewer receipts on file than homeowners, especially after a move. You can still prove ownership with order confirmations in your email, bank and card statements, photos from your phone that show items in the background, and the boxes or manuals you kept.

Our guide to making an insurance claim without receipts covers each of these in more detail.

Theft from your car or away from home

Renters insurance usually covers your belongings away from the apartment too: a laptop stolen from your car, luggage taken while you travel, a bike stolen from a rack at work. Some policies pay only a share of your limit for things away from home, so check your policy before you count on the full amount.

The car itself, and any damage to it from the break-in, goes through your auto insurance instead. File the police report once and give the same report number to both insurers.

What the adjuster will ask

• When and where you last saw the items.
• How the thief got in, or where the water or fire started.
• Proof for anything expensive: a receipt, an order email, a photo, a serial number.
• Whether anyone else's insurance is involved, such as a roommate's or the building's.

If you share the apartment, your policy covers your things, not your roommate's, unless you are both named on it. Each of you claims your own belongings on your own policy. Answer the adjuster's questions plainly and in writing where you can, and keep a copy of what you send.

If you can't stay in your apartment

Most renters policies include loss of use coverage. If a fire or a burst pipe makes the unit unlivable, it pays the extra cost of a hotel or another rental, plus things like extra meals out, until you can move back. Keep every receipt.

Is it worth filing a renters insurance claim?

Add up what you lost and compare it with your deductible. If the total is only a little over, the payout may be small, and some insurers raise premiums after a claim. If the loss is well above your deductible, or you had to move out, it is usually worth filing.

Report a theft or a fire to your insurer even if you're unsure about claiming. Ask whether reporting alone counts as a claim on your record, and decide once you know the total.

Where Indemnia helps

Indemnia builds the list for you from the order confirmations in your email and photos of each room, with today's price on every item. For a renter who has moved a few times, it's often the quickest way to find out what you owned and what it would cost to replace.