Best Flood Insurance for Renters

Floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. You might put your personal property at risk if you live in a flood zone and don’t have a flood insurance policy. Let’s take a look at what flood insurance is, how it applies to you and where you can find the best flood insurance for renters. 

Quick Look: Best Flood Insurance for Renters

• Best for Digital Sign-Up: Lemonade
• Best for High-Value Items: AllState
• Best for Discounts: Progressive
• Best for International Coverage: United Casualty & Surety Insurance

4 Best Flood Insurance for Renters

Now that you understand how flood and renters insurance works, it’s time to take a look at some of the best flood insurance policies for renters. 

1. Best for Digital Sign-Up: Lemonade

Did you know most of our readers prefer to work with Lemonade for their renters insurance needs?

Lemonade offers fast, easy coverage through their seamless application and claims process. It works like this: out of the premium you pay, Lemonade takes a flat fee, with the rest going to paying out claims. Then, once a year, they tally up the unclaimed money leftover, and donate it to charities chosen by their customers.

It’s a unique model that does away with the incentive most insurance companies have to pay out as little as possible in claims to maximize profits.

Renters can get insurance starting as low as $5 a month, making Lemonade by far one of the most affordable ways for renters to protect themselves. Lemonade earned a Financial Stability Rating of A-Exceptional from Demotech Inc. 

Lemonade’s sign up and claims process is exceptionally simple. You can get a quote from the app in as little as 90 seconds using an intuitive question-and-answer style format. Discounts are available for fire and burglar alarms. At the end of your signup, you receive a transparent policy summary that tells you exactly where your money goes.

Digital, socially-responsible and exceptionally affordable, Lemonade is a top renters insurance choice if you’re tech-savvy.

2. Best for High-Value Items: Allstate

Unlike most types of insurance coverage, the cost of flood insurance usually doesn’t vary from company to company. This is because flood insurance policies are priced and sold through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and issued through authorized 3rd-party insurance companies. The NFIP assigns a price based on your home flooding risk.

The best way to lower the cost of your flood insurance is by securing the most affordable renters insurance possible. Allstate offers affordable renters insurance throughout the country and you can bundle your coverage with an existing Allstate policy. You can also lower your monthly expenses even further by taking advantage of Allstate’s wide range of discounts. 

3. Best for Discounts: Progressive

You might already have an auto insurance policy from Progressive — it’s one of the largest car insurance providers in the country. If you do, you can save money when you bundle your renters insurance, flood insurance and auto insurance together. You can save more than 5% on your policy when you bundle.

Progressive can also bundle your renters policy together with other types of coverage — from business insurance to ATV coverage, Progressive’s team does it all. It also offers a wide range of discounts you can use to make your policy even more affordable, including home security system discounts and discounts for paying for your policy in advance.

Flash flooding is a major hazard for residents of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Unfortunately, many renters insurance and flood insurance providers exclude these territories from their coverage maps.

United Casualty & Surety Insurance is one of the few flood insurance and landlord insurance companies that offer comprehensive flood policies in Puerto Rico. United Casualty & Surety offers private flood insurance options, which means that you can get up to $1 million in coverage — about 4 times what’s available through NFIP policies. Policies are available for rented homes, condos and apartments. United Casualty & Surety also offers enrollment and quote information in Spanish, which can be an invaluable asset for native speakers. 

What is Flood Insurance?

Flood insurance is a type of insurance coverage backed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Flood insurance is sold through FEMA-approved independent insurance companies and prices are set by federal underwriters.

What Does Flood Insurance Cover?

Flood insurance policies include two types of coverage:

Building Property Coverage

Building property coverage helps protect the physical structure of your home. It pays for your repair bills if your home is damaged by flooding. The maximum coverage limit for building coverage is $250,000.

Personal Contents Coverage

Personal contents coverage compensates you for items you own that are damaged after a flood. This coverage helps you replace things like clothing, electronics, small appliances not attached to your home and more. The maximum limit for this type of coverage is $100,000.

What Does Flood Insurance Not Cover?

Flood insurance typically doesn’t cover any of the following:

• Living expenses, even if your home was completely destroyed by flooding
• Damage in underground or hidden rooms, including basements and crawl spaces
• Cars and self-propelled vehicles (including ATVs and scooters)
• Outdoor structures and furniture, including decks, patios, outdoor septic tanks, landscaping and wells
• Damage from mold and mildew that could have been avoided by the homeowner
• Any losses to currency, precious metals and stock certificates you have in your home

As a renter, you’ll typically only want to purchase personal contents coverage. Your landlord may be required to purchase building property coverage, depending on where your home is located. 

How Does Renters Insurance Work?

Renters insurance is a type of protection that compensates you for your belongings that are damaged after a natural disaster or break-in. Most renters insurance policies include 3 parts:

• Personal property compensates you for things like electronics and clothing after a covered peril.
• Loss-of-use compensates you for hotel and food expenses if your home is destroyed to the point where it’s deemed unlivable.
• Personal liability compensates you if you’re sued after someone is injured or has their property damaged inside your home.

Every renter's insurance policy includes a list of covered and uncovered perils. If your things are damaged by a covered peril, you can file a claim; if you suffer damage from an uncovered peril, you can’t. Most renters insurance plans exclude flood damage from coverage. If you want protection from flooding, you’ll need to purchase an independent flood insurance policy. 

Renters' insurance isn’t legally required like other types of insurance. However, your landlord might require that you have insurance as a condition of your lease.  

Flood Insurance Premiums for Rental Properties

Flood insurance is different than homeowners insurance and auto insurance because prices are set by the federal government. This can be great news if you don’t like shopping around for a policy, but it doesn’t mean that everyone will pay the same amount of money for flood insurance. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that FEMA considers when it creates a quote for your renters' flood insurance.

Year of Building Construction

If you live in an older building, you might pay more for flood protection.

Building Occupancy

The more people you have living in your home, the more possessions you likely own and the more you’ll pay for flood insurance.

Number of Floors Your Building Has

If your building has more floors, you’re less likely to see damage to your possessions after a flood. This is especially true if you live on a higher floor in an apartment building.

FEMA has mapped out each county’s flood risk and designed each address with a flood risk rating of “high,” “moderate” or “low.” If you live in a high-risk flooding area, you’re more likely to experience a flood and you’ll pay more for coverage. You can check your flood risk rating using FEMA’s flood map service rating.

Location of the Lowest Floor in Relation to the Elevation Requirement on the Flood Map

The higher your building’s elevation, the less likely you are to experience flood damage. This lowers the price you’ll pay for insurance.

Deductible You Choose and the Amount of Coverage

Your policy’s deductible is the amount of money you’ll need to spend before your insurance kicks in and starts paying for damage to your possessions. The higher your deductible, the less you’ll pay each month for flood insurance.

Choose contents-only coverage from your FEMA-approved provider when you rent. Because contents-only coverage doesn’t include coverage for the structure of your building, it’s significantly more affordable than a full flood insurance policy. 

Protect Your Belongings

Are you ready to get started protecting your home and belongings from water damage? Getting a quote for flood insurance is quick and easy with Benzinga. Just enter a bit of information on where you live and you’ll instantly see options available to you. It takes less than 30 seconds to get started on the path to a well-protected future. 

Frequently Asked Questions