Renters Insurance
Your landlord's policy covers the building. It does not cover your belongings, and it does not cover you if someone is injured in your unit. Renters coverage handles both, and it is one of the least expensive policies on the market.
What Renters Insurance Is Actually For
Most renters underestimate what they own. Add up a laptop, a TV, a bike, kitchen equipment, clothing, and furniture and the replacement cost usually lands between $20,000 and $30,000 — more than people guess when asked cold. A fire, burst pipe, or break-in puts all of it at risk at once.
The liability side matters just as much and gets thought about even less. If a guest is injured in your apartment, or you accidentally cause water damage that reaches the units below you, those claims come to you. Renters policies include personal liability coverage that responds to exactly that.
Many Twin Cities landlords now require proof of renters coverage as a lease condition. Even where it is optional, the premium is typically low enough that the multi-policy discount from pairing it with auto covers a meaningful share of the cost.
For a full list of the coverage lines we offer, visit our services page.
What a Renters Policy Includes
Farmers-backed renters coverage through Bradley Hansen Agency protects your belongings, your liability, and your living costs if the unit becomes uninhabitable.
Personal Property
Covers furniture, electronics, clothing, and belongings against fire, theft, vandalism, and water damage — including items stolen from your car.
Personal Liability
Responds if a guest is injured in your unit or you accidentally cause damage to the building or a neighboring unit.
Loss of Use
Pays for a hotel and added living costs if a covered loss makes your unit uninhabitable while repairs happen.
Medical Payments to Others
Covers modest medical bills for a guest injured in your home regardless of fault, which often prevents a larger liability claim.
Water Backup Coverage
Adds protection for sewer and drain backup — worth having in lower-level and garden-level units across the Twin Cities.
Scheduled Personal Property
Raises limits on jewelry, instruments, camera gear, and other high-value items that standard sub-limits would not fully cover.
Renters coverage usually costs less per month than a single takeout order. Worth a two-minute quote.
Replacement Cost Versus Actual Cash Value
This is the single choice that decides whether a renters policy feels worth it after a claim. Actual cash value pays what your belongings are worth today, after depreciation — a five-year-old laptop is settled at five-year-old-laptop money. Replacement cost pays what it costs to buy the equivalent item new.
The premium difference between the two is usually small. The claim difference is not. For most renters, replacement cost is the option worth having, and it is the one Bradley recommends unless there is a specific reason otherwise.
The other detail worth checking is whether your belongings are covered away from home. Most policies extend coverage to property stolen from your vehicle or while traveling, typically at a reduced limit — which matters more than people expect for anyone who commutes with a laptop.
A Small Policy That Still Deserves a Real Conversation
Renters insurance is inexpensive enough that most agents treat it as an afterthought. Bradley still walks through what you own, what your building requires, and whether the default limits actually match your situation — because the difference between a policy that pays and one that disappoints is usually in those details.
As a Farmers PRIME-designated agency, Bradley Hansen Agency has earned 175+ five-star reviews from local clients, including plenty who started with a renters policy and stayed as their coverage needs grew.
Renters Insurance Questions Worth Asking
How much does renters insurance cost in Minnesota?
Most Twin Cities renters pay somewhere between $12 and $25 a month depending on coverage limits, deductible, and location. Bundling it with an auto policy typically triggers a multi-policy discount that offsets a good portion of the premium.
Does my roommate need their own policy?
Generally yes. A renters policy covers the named insured and relatives in the household, so an unrelated roommate is not automatically covered — their belongings and their liability sit outside your policy. Two separate policies is usually cleaner and not much more expensive than one.
Is my stuff covered if it is stolen from my car?
Yes. Personal property coverage follows your belongings rather than the apartment, so items stolen from your vehicle are typically covered under renters rather than auto — auto covers the car, not what is inside it. Off-premises limits are sometimes lower, which is worth confirming.
Does renters insurance cover water damage from an upstairs unit?
Damage to your belongings from a sudden leak above you is generally covered. Sewer or drain backup is a separate endorsement that standard policies exclude, and it is one worth adding for lower-level units. Damage to the building itself is the landlord’s side.
My landlord requires renters insurance — what proof do they need?
Usually a certificate of insurance showing your coverage limits and effective dates, and often the property listed as an interested party so they are notified if the policy lapses. Bradley can issue that certificate directly to the leasing office when the policy is written.
Get Covered Before You Need It
A renters quote takes a few minutes and Bradley can price it alongside your auto policy to show the bundled rate.